


Distortion Theory

by Souiukara



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: A very messed up idea of what the DLC episode is about, FFXV history backfill, M/M, MT(?) Prompto, Original Character(s), Time Travel AU, Torture, Will add tags as I go, a theory of magic, not sure how much to put without spoilers, there's a trial of sorts
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2018-09-21 18:27:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 25,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9561434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Souiukara/pseuds/Souiukara
Summary: Prompto had known that one day, his existence as an outsider from Niflheim would be another's downfall.  A time travel AU based around Niflheim thinking they failed an experiment only to later see that it yielded unexpected results after they abandoned it.  A switch that was meant to never work was flipped and Prompto intends to challenge a given fate using it.





	1. Fragmented Reality

**Author's Note:**

> Aka I was in the shower after fangirling/losing my crap over the DLC Prompto episode for a good two hours before the fic fairy strong-armed me into writing this instead of doing math. Of course it was at 1 in the morning. Yes, this was a terrible idea and I’m sorry. You can curse my twisted brain. (It just had to go to the absolute worst case scenario)

Prompto found himself standing on a snowy hillside surrounded by mountains capped with snow.  He rubbed his eyes before taking a deep breath and covering his face with his hands.

 _I…What was I doing?_   _My hands feel weird._

Gloves. Leather gloves smothered his face as he struggled to gather his bearings.  He slowly lowered his hands and glanced around to take in his surroundings.

_Shouldn’t I…be cold?  There’s snow all around. Why am I not cold?_

A thick snow coat.  He glanced at his arms encased in a brown coat with a white fur trim and felt around his head which he learned was kept warmed by a simple brown cap.  His face crinkled up into a grimace.

 _This is getting really weird_.    

**Come here.**

As suddenly as he had come to realize his new location, he found that he was walking with his legs moving towards an unseen destination by the command of an impulse.

_Or a voice?_

“Prompto!  Where are you?!” 

_Noct?_

There was desperation in his best friend’s voice echoing eerily with the wind.  Willing his legs to move faster as he began to wade through a deep patch of snow he followed his, _Noct’s_ , voice.

“Prompto!  I…I-I’m sorry!”  Noctis’ voice cracked with grief.

_Why are you sorry?_

Prompto had opened his mouth but no sound came out and his question went unasked.  His legs kept moving unbidden towards Noctis’ voice as a creeping sense of dread tinged with panic began to grab hold of his mind.

 **Stop.  Let him come to you.**  

His legs froze in place.  It wasn’t an impulse.  It was a voice it was-

 _Ardyn_. 

**My, my.  Took you long enough to figure it out.**

_What are you doing with me!?  Why can’t I, why is Noct-_

**You’ll see soon enough my dear Prompto.**

Within minutes that dragged by like hours he heard the sound of crunching snow signaling the arrival of Noctis, worn and ragged from stumbling through the frigid terrain.

 **And that’s my cue.**  

Ardyn slammed into Noctis, first throwing him from his feet before flinging him like a ragdoll. 

_Stop it!_

Prompto felt his heart twist in pain but realized with horror that it didn’t reach his face.  His face remained impassive as he watched his friend, his king, his everything fall to pieces in front of him as Ardyn, _Ardyn that daemon_ , took his hatred out on Noctis.  And he watched.  All he could do was watch as his heart, the man who’s rare, shy smiles and laughter was etched into his soul.  That man, who now lay exhausted and defeated as Ardyn taunted him. 

“Although that was absolutely delightful, Chosen King, I dare say your heart’s desire wishes to say something to you.”

**Come towards us.**

Prompto let out a choked gasp as a force grabbed hold of his legs and jerked him forward before he lapsed into his usual stride bringing him closer to Noctis before he found that he had managed to resist and stop his advance.  Ardyn wrenched Noctis to his feet before tipping his head towards Prompto.

“I believe you already have the tool to finish this job, yes?”

**Come closer.**

There was a weight in his hand as he was forced into walking forward.  It was a familiar one.  A strangled whimper formed in his throat because it was his gun.  The gun that Noct had always given him the ability to summon at will. 

 **Finish him.**     

He tried.  He truly tried to resist as his mouth opened in uneven pants while his arm moved against his will, trembling with the effort to lower itself in defiance of Ardyn’s order.  His mouth closed as tears began clouding his vision as the gun reached its determined height, leveled at Noctis.  The gun wavering as his shoulders began to rock as much as Ardyn would allow from his stifled sobs.

 _No. No, no no no no. No, please. Please-_      

**Betray him.**

A gunshot rang out through the snowy hillside followed by a thud as Ardyn released Noctis.

“No, n-no, no no no…!”

Free of Ardyn’s control, he scrabbled to his fallen friend, _beloved,_ and pressed against the growing tide of red trying to stymy the flow as it pressed back out dyeing his hands, gloves, everything crimson.  The smell of iron grew thicker as the snow surrounding Noctis steadily reddened.     

“Noct-I, I…, you’ve gotta stay with me buddy.  Please, Noct, Noct…that wasn’t me I-”

A whisper.  “Pro..mpt..o”

Prompto sat transfixed as Noctis’ wavering, bloodstained hand lifted to caress his face.

“Yo..u…wi..ll..al.wa..ys…be..”

“A Mo **nster.”**

The hand fell, streaking his face with a warm touch as Ardyn watched on and laughed.

“Hnngh!”

Prompto’s eyes snapped open as he convulsed, straining against the steel restraints locking his hands and legs in place.  The scent of blood lingered in the air as the sounds of gunshots and falling bodies and _Noct_ continued to circle round his head in a never-ending carousel of madness that stole the breath from his lungs.  Panting, he frantically strained against his restraints and gasped as his aching and bruised body attempted to ground him of what had happened, what was real; Noctis, the train, falling, and pain.  Then the memory of warm blood streaking a lingering trail on his face surrendered him to agony. 

_Noctis **.**_

The sounds of his falling tears melded with footsteps reverberating on metal panels as Ardyn strode over toward him, hands behind his back as he stopped to observe Prompto.  Ardyn lifted his hand and made to touch Prompto’s cheek but Prompto jerked his head back before it made contact, glaring at him with tearstained eyes.

“A tough nut to crack aren’t you?  I was sure that would have broken you.”

“You won’t break me.” It was a whispered defiance.

Ardyn chuckled before he doubled over with laughter, causing Prompto to shiver at the memory of steel blue eyes corroding to rust by his hand. 

“My dear boy, we’ll see about that.” He smirked.  “Well, I suppose we’re done for today though.” Ardyn tipped his hat towards the shackled Prompto and with a flick of his fingers turned off the lights as he swaggered out of the cell.  In the darkness, the floor steadily began to glow as red lights slowly flickered to life around him.  Footsteps ricocheted around the tiny enclosure, taunting him as Prompto felt Ardyn’s light touch on his shoulder, his breath on his ear.

“You won’t break me.” Prompto murmured aloud, letting the words settle into his surroundings, a quiet self-reassurance that he was fine.  That he was fine and he hadn’t fallen to pieces or died with his friend in the snow.

 _Beloved Noctis_.

He laughed lightly in ridicule.

 _I’ve never been able to even tell him.  Let alone confess what I am because I’m sure no one would love a-_   

 **MT?** **Monster?**

Ardyn’s hand lunged for Prompto’s arm out of the darkness adding another bruise as the red glow of the lights began to shift into disorienting hues of a new environment.

 _And an old memory_.

“Can I just say now that I was kidding?”

 **Obey me.**   


	2. Fonder Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompto is drifting about in a void of his mind where he revisits some fonder parts of his past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This thing is longer than I expected because where I was going to cut off would have been terrible.

When Prompto came to, he was alone in a suffocating darkness that pulled against him as he struggled to free himself.  Fear locked his limbs as he tried to follow the instinctive urge to surface out of wherever he was, to break free and reach an imaginary surface before despair set in.  He knew it was pointless, flailing about in the void, but he kept searching.  As time passed, his movements slowed and thinking that moving one more inch would help had faded.  He felt his eyes closing before a sharp edge came into view before him, illuminated by a dim silvery light that softened the hard line it created.  Prompto tentatively reached forward to touch the edge, and it rippled as his finger made contact.  The other shimmering light on the other side slowly dispersed as the waves died down to reveal a hazy shadow of a boy who looked to be no older than ten.  Prompto squinted as he leaned closer to see the back of the boy’s head, covered in short, black feathery hair as the boy seemed to be looking at something ahead.  Prompto tilted his head in confusion before reaching to touch the surface again as the boy suddenly turned around and the surroundings blurred around him as he felt himself falling backwards into a dizzying whorl of colors.  As he fell back, he could have sworn he saw a small smile on the boy’s obscured face as he saw his lips move to speak to him before everything went dark again. 

 

Even though he was alone again in that empty space, he could distantly feel something warm near him even though he couldn’t move.                                      

“-mpto”

 “ompto..”

The voice faded off as he closed his eyes, but he vaguely recognized who it belonged to as he fell into a memory.

_Noctis._

_“Hey, don’t run around with that!” Noctis yelled, chasing Prompto around his flat’s kitchen island in an attempt to detain his currently sugar and caffeine-high friend.  Said friend’s chaotic state was the result of a string of bad bets that he had made knowing he would probably lose and deal with penalties that involved chugging massive amounts of coffee (black, which he hated) and consuming an unhealthy number of sour candies (which he loved).  In response to a query as to why he did it, Prompto had simply shrugged before flashing a wide, roguish grin as he laughed it off with, “call it a trade-off!  It was totally worth it, by the way.”  While Noctis had been relieved that the bets didn’t involve riskier activities, he was still going to have a headache watching Prompto run wildly about brandishing the open, half-filled bottle of calligraphy ink for their recent project._

_“Try to catch me if you ca- WOOOAH!” Prompto’s foot caught, as Noctis had worriedly predicted, on the protruding edge of the rug causing Prompto to flail his unburdened arm in an attempt to regain his balance.  After a few tense moments, Prompto managed to right himself.  The cost however, was that the ink bottle had inadvertently become airborne and was headed towards the metal and glass coffee table.  Prompto immediately jumped for it, completely ignoring the table’s presence but was cut short as Noctis lunged forward, catching Prompto with an arm around his waist.  The pair reeled back unsteadily, slowing their forward momentum as the ink bottle bounced off of the table with a clang and landed on the rug.  The very light cream rug.  Prompto’s eyes widened at the growing black pool and made to break free of Noctis’ hold to pick it up but found that he wasn’t letting go.  Clutching his hands into fists, he tried to ignore the growing clamminess as the thought that he really must have screwed up this time echoed around in his head.  Unable to handle the awkward situation any longer, Prompto cracked as he struggled._

_“Noct I’m really, really, really, sorry!  I won’t do it ever again!  Let me go clean it up, please?”  After several more moments of panicked flailing about, he gave up and went limp for a while to take a moment to reflect on his actions._

_“…Noct?  I got your point okay?  I won’t do any more stupid bets at school and I think I should go clean that up before Ignis comes back and kills me.  Really, I’m sorry about the mess and you can kill me after Ignis does… Hey, Noct?”  Prompto patted Noctis’ arm, before finally picking up the courage to look back at his friend’s face.  Prompto’s jaw dropped a little as he saw Noctis’ expression.   Worry arched his eyebrows and formed light wrinkles in his forehead while a slight frown tugged at the corners of his lips.  It was as much a worried expression as it was a slightly perplexed one.  He wasn’t mad at him, that much he could tell, however he did seem a bit sad and possibly something else was there too._

_“Prompto.”  Noctis’ tone was even despite sounding a bit curt._

_Prompto swallowed nervously, “Y-yeah?”_

_“The carpet’s fine.  It’s just a carpet.  You on the other hand-” Noctis’ frown deepened before he continued.  “Don’t just go throwing yourself around like that…”_

_Prompto blinked in confusion.  “Wait, what?”_

_Noctis merely motioned towards where the ink bottle was lying, right next to the smooth glass table.  “That.  The coffee table, you were going to hit it.”_

_“Aaaaah!  That’s what you meant…Sorry Noct, I-I didn’t really think about it…” he lapsed into silence.  There was a slight laugh before he swallowed and continued, “I guess you can blame it on the sugar?  Or is it the caffeine?”_

_Noctis rolled his eyes but his voice was soft.  “Prompto…”_

_Prompto gave a slight smile.  “I got it Noct…thanks for catching me.”  He patted Noctis’ arm before continuing, “I don’t mind you getting all cozy with me, but how about letting go now so I can clean that up?”_

_Startled, Noctis immediately let go, his face slightly flushed.  “Ah-yeah.  Sorry.”_

_Prompto gave a stretch before walking over to pick up the fallen bottle, keeping his back to Noctis.  “Soooo, where does the bleach live in this place?”_

_Noctis rubbed at his face before humming a reply, “Mmmm, beats me.”_

_Prompto whipped around to face him, hands on his hips, “Dude, you’re the one living here.”_

_He merely got a sigh in reply, “You know how this place gets when Ignis doesn’t come for a while…”_

_“Fair enough.  Weeell, I’m sure we can find it, it’s gotta be around here somewhere.  You okay?  Your face is kinda red.”  Prompto walked over and leaned in slightly before Noctis walked the other way in an attempt to find the cleaning products._

_“I was only chasing you around earlier,” he replied as he quickly gave up and instead settled for a wad of paper towels from the roll hanging in the kitchen._

_Prompto nodded, “that’s true.  Sorry again…”_

_Noctis sighed as he waved Prompto off.  “No need to apologize over it.  If worst comes to worst, it’ll just have a mark on it.”_

_Half an hour passed before Prompto threw up his hands in defeat as Noctis lounged on the couch.  They had cleaned most of the ink off of the carpet but what had soaked in was stuck._

_Prompto continued blotting at the carpet as he asked Noctis, “Should we call Ignis?”_

_Noctis reached for his cellphone and began dialing.  “Probably.”_

 

Prompto felt his eyes flicker open as the warmth drew closer in the darkness and a muffled voice called him again.  He truly did want to return but his eyes refused to stay open as he felt himself get pulled into another memory.  

 _Return_ to _where?_

 

_“You’re kidding me.  The prince of Lucis STILL hasn’t read that one yet!?” Prompto gasped in mock horror, dramatically clutching at his chest.  They were seated on the couch in Noctis’ flat and after several failed attempts to study they found themselves playing King’s Knight instead._

_“The prince of Lucis has other worries,” Noctis sighed, sullenly swiping at his blinking phone screen.  “Ignis is already going to kill me for slacking this week so I can’t go around slacking openly and buying comics.”_

_“Slacking openly huh.” Prompto snickered._

_The exasperated prince merely shook his head.  “Who do you think keeps track of my expenses?  Hint, it’s the same person nagging me to clean.”_

_While it was the middle of midterms, the notion that the flat had seen better days was a severe understatement.  Instant ramen cups littered the floor while papers along with other empty food items aggregated into piles that migrated to hiding underneath the furniture as Noctis would often sweep them there to avoid things getting underfoot.  Once things got stuck there, it became a situation of out of sight and out of mind.  As for the piles that grew on top of the furniture and around previously filled hiding places, Noctis merely turned a blind eye to the mess.  The couch they sat on was the only semi-passable haven from the rest of the chaos._

_Prompto sighed before tapping some more on his phone.  “He would get that mad, huh.”  They sat for a bit, gaming away on their phones before Prompto let out a whoop and a fistpump  “Oooh, I got that rare 5-star drop!”_

_“Hey wait, show me the goods.”   He craned over to take a look at Prompto’s phone, which was raining gems in honor of the occasion._

_“See?  I’ve been waiting months for that one.  Anyways, just borrow some of mine!  But honestly Noct, I can’t believe that you’re willing to put energy into not getting caught slacking, so you can still slack.  Isn’t that too much effort?” he said poking at Noctis, who had begun to rummage through his game inventory, in an attempt to get him to withdraw from his phone._

_A sly smirk appeared in response as Noctis lazily swatted away the offending hand.  “Some of slacking does involve sleeping.  Come on, I just want to see if you got that sword enhancement I wanted.”_

_Prompto shook his head before laughing, “What doesn’t involve sleeping for you?  I shoulda known better.  You’re ‘Noct the Sleeping Beauty,’ known for passing out in class.  Yet somehow you can pass out, wake up when called on and answer a question correctly before going back to sleep.”   Prompto moved Noctis’ hand out of the way to continue flipping through his inventory._

_Leaning back a bit, Noctis blinked owlishly in confusion. “I don’t remember doing that.  I do that?”_

_Prompto laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling up.  “Yeah dude.  You speak really coherently too, none of that mumbly stuff you end up saying to me when I try to wake you up.  We were almost late that day too so while all I got was “Fi..e mor….mi….ute…s”  in the morning,  you stood up in class and announced that x was equal to the square root of 54 before sitting down to return to that dream of yours.  Ah- I think I did get that one you were looking for, want to trade?” he asked, showing Noctis’ a portrait of a streamlined silver blade._

_”Cool, so that’s why my grades are still okay.” the delinquent prince paused as he looked at Prompto’s phone screen before confirming. “Yep, that’s the one.  Do you want to trade for the summon I got?”_

_The prince’s sly smirk reappeared as Prompto’s eyes widened and the lightbulb went on.  “Wait wait wait, is it the bird summon that’s technically a chocobo!?”_

_The smirk widened.  “Mhmm.”_

_Prompto practically threw himself at Noctis, knocking the prince over in his enthusiasm while Noctis laughed as he failed to get out of the way in time.  “Noooct!  Please take this useless hunk of metal because I really, reaaally need that super sweet chocobo in my life.”  There was some joking batting of eyelashes along with prodding, nudging, and more begging in-between uncontrollable bouts of laughter as other bribes and threats were thrown into the mix that ranged from, “I’ll distract Ignis with Ebony and grab his glasses so you can run when something goes wrong!” to, “I’ll take pictures of all those fish magazines you hide in your closet and send them to Luna!”_

_Both of them were out of breath before Noctis playfully shoved Prompto off of him.  “Alright, alright!  Calm down so we can trade.”_

_“Yeeeees!” Prompto jumped up off of the couch and nearly knocked Noctis over again in the process.  “Ah- sorry Noct,” he grinned before giving a joyful cheer as he paraded around the couch._

_Noctis shook his head, a slight smile still on his face despite his friend’s flippant apology.  “Geez, I was going to give this to you later you know.”_

_He stopped marching to throw himself back onto the couch, “even without a trade?”_

_Noctis looked up from his phone to meet a curious light blue gaze, “Yeah, of course.”_

_He received a light laugh and a gently mocking tone in return.  “That’s not really fair for you though, Mr. ‘I wanna get the high score’ gamer.”_

_Noctis put his phone down to stare at Prompto, eyes widened in joking horror as he stretched out his arms in a questioning gesture.  “What, I can’t spread joy and happiness when I feel like it?”_

_“Pfft.  I got a weird image of you flying around like Santa Claus except you’re warping and losing things everywhere out of a sack.”_ Prompto giggled into the couch cushion as Noctis just blankly looked back at him.

_“Thanks buddy, nice to know I can’t be a competent Santa Claus.  Ah- that reminds me, I still have something else to give you.” He looked around the room before he got up and went into the kitchen to grab an envelope with what looked to be a neatly written reminder from Ignis on it.  “Here,” he tossed it at Prompto, who fumbled as he dropped his phone on the couch to catch it._

_“What is this?  Not your bills I hope cause even though we’re buds I’d probably have to rob someone to pay it.  You’ll bail me outta jail, right?” Prompto queried as he waved the gray envelope in question about._

_“Just open it.  Be sure to read the note too on the outside,” he nonchalantly replied, settling himself back onto the couch after retrieving his phone._

_Prompto flipped the smooth envelope over and was greeted by Ignis’ handwriting in a larger font than usual._

_-If you even THINK you’ve lost this, call me immediately and then call the number written here (if this number is not in your phone the next time we meet, then we will have a talk).  That being said, please clean up after yourselves please.  Ignis.-_

_Prompto dropped the envelope on the couch before turning to Noctis, worry crumpling his face.  “Uhhh, Noct.  What is this that Ignis is threatening me about?”_

_He received a hand wave for his worries as Noctis yawned, “don’t worry about it.  He’s just overreacting, probably.”_

_“That was very reassuring,” he mumbled before fitting his thumb underneath a corner of the envelope and opened it.  A black card with a neat gold trim fell out onto the couch and the Lucian insignia etched into the corner stared back at him as his jaw dropped._

_“H-hey, Noct, isn’t this…?” Prompto stammered, gingerly picking up the card and showing it to Noctis._

_The prince nodded and calmly replied, “yes, that’s a key,” in a tone that would suggest the object be self-evident._

_“B-but I…I-uh…why?  Why me?” Prompto asked, his voice shrinking at the end._

_Noctis put his phone aside and looked Prompto in the eyes, his voice even and unhesitating.  “Because we’re friends.”_

_“Wouldn’t me having this be an issue of security though?” Prompto pressed on, worry growing in his eyes._

_“Hey,” Noctis reached for Prompto’s shoulder and gently shook him to snap him out of his dazed state.  “I asked for Ignis to get a copy made so if you wanted to come over when you wanted, you could.  It’s as simple as that.  You don’t have to take it if you don’t want to,” he soothed, leaving his hand on Prompto’s shoulder._

_“N-no, it’s not that I don’t want it, I-I just don’t want anything bad to come from me having it,” Prompto stuttered.  “Is it really okay to have it?” he whispered, apprehensively searching Noctis’ face for his response._

_Noctis nodded, clapping Prompto on the back.  “If it’s already sitting in front of you since I got Ignis to approve it, don’t you think it’ll be okay?  I just want you to have it.”_

_The worry fell from Prompto’s face as it brightened with a smile that spread from ear to ear.  “Thanks Noctis.”  Prompto laughed before continuing, “I’ve just been getting so many things from you huh.  Heck, you even fought Ignis too for this I bet.”_

_“It was a battle of epic proportions,” Noctis gave a wry smile at the memory of it before letting out a chuckle._

_“So I can just drop by any time then?” he asked, picking up his phone to input the number that Ignis had threatened him about._

_“Yeah, whenever you feel like it, or maybe when I need to grab something and I happen to be preoccupied...” he smirked, and then laughed when Prompto’s face contorted._

_“I knew there was a catch somewhere!  You’re giving me all these things when I don’t have anything to give back,” he huffed, heaving himself off of the couch to grab his bag.  Noctis watched him as he zipped the bag shut after depositing the key in the inner compartment and leaned back on the couch._

_“I wouldn’t say that,” he murmured out of earshot, gazing vacantly in Prompto’s direction._

_“Hm?  Did you say something Noct?” Prompto looked up as he dropped the bag back down and walked back to the couch._

_“Nope.”  He gave a small smile as he picked up his phone and continued on with his business of saving towns and leveling up._

_Prompto sighed, and smiled while shaking his head.  “You totally just did, but whatever dude.”_

_“Nah, I was just thinking that when you don’t know where to go, feel free to come here,” Noctis replied, his eyes resting on Prompto a moment before going back to his game._

_“Got nothing going on Noct?” Prompto jokingly ribbed, tapping Noctis on the shoulder so he could see how the fight was going._

_Noctis tilted his phone.  “You know me, just another day catching up on my fishing news.  Or King’s Knight.”_

_Prompto gave a knowing smile, “of course you would be.”_

 

Prompto jerked awake in the void again, feeling his body grow heavier than before.  However, he wasn’t alone this time.  A small furry fox creature appeared next to him, its fur a shining light blue against the surrounding darkness.  The light coming from it grew brighter as it washed over him and the voice that had shouted for him earlier grew clearer.

“..rom…”

“Prom-”

“Prompto!”

 

“…Wha?...Noctis?”  He was lying on the couch in Noctis’ flat with a very frantic looking Noctis hovering over him.  Noctis had his phone in one hand with Ignis’ name on the screen indicating that he was currently on the other line as Noctis searched Prompto’s face with his eyes trying to verify that he was fine.  His other hand was gripping Prompto’s shoulder as he spoke with a sigh of relief to Ignis.  “He’s finally awake now, what should I check for?”

Prompto tried to move his arm to tug at Noct’s shirt but found that it only moved as fast as it would if he were underwater.  His body felt unusually heavy as if he had just run a marathon, but he couldn’t remember what he was doing before that would make him feel like this.  “Heeey…Noct?  S’fine, I’m just….really tired.”

Noctis heard him and looked over before answering Ignis, “alright, I’ll do that, thank god you’re finally here though.”  He hung up and threw his phone aside before reaching for Prompto’s wrist to try and take his pulse. 

“…Did you hear me..?” Prompto murmured drowsily, turning his head to look at Noctis beside him. 

“I heard you,” he replied, his voice still slightly unsteady.  “Do you remember what you were doing before you fell asleep?”

Prompto watched Noctis fumble to try to find a good location on his wrist as he thought about it.  “Mmm….can’t remember exactly…oh- were we watching a movie?  What happened though…?”

“You came over to hang out, so we started watching a movie but we fell asleep.  I woke up and then tried to wake you up so you could go home or get ready for bed if you were going to stay the night- but you didn’t wake up.  You were breathing and it seemed like you were just asleep so I thought you were just really tired.  I tried again 10 minutes later and you still didn’t wake up, you only moved a little when I called you, so I called Ignis,” he finished, his voice shaking audibly by the end of it. 

“M’sorry…Noct..” he mumbled, reaching up to pat Noctis’ arm.

“Why are you apologizing, there’s nothing to apologize for.”  There was a small rueful smile on his face as his voice cracked.  A sound of the front door opening interrupted them as Ignis and some medical staff walked in, quickly moving to assess the situation and preparing to move Prompto should it be necessary.  Ignis stepped forward, speaking quietly to draw Noctis away from Prompto so he could be seen by the staff. Noctis followed him in a daze, casting glances back towards where he was situated on the couch. 

“Will he be alright?” Noctis whispered, his eyes following the movements of the people gathered around his friend.

“He’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Ignis calmly replied.      

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Where the frickity-frack did Ardyn go!? Weren't you torturing poor sunshine child!?"  
> That part is going to be covered later. It's there (sadly), I promise. We're going to discover things as Prompto discovers them and tries to make sense of things. It's one of those mystery things, but hopefully not a crappy one...
> 
> As a side note, if anyone for any amount of time goes unresponsive for who knows why, please call 911. Just do it. Don't be an idiot like Noctis and wait around.


	3. Exposure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live! I know I've been sitting on this chapter for like three months. I was hoping for like one chapter a month, but then stuff happened. Sorry I write slowly. Hopefully faster releases now that it's summer?

He knew he was asleep again, but he wasn’t in the dark this time.  A piercing white light now obscured his surroundings as he drifted while soft whispers moved past him, murmuring in an ancient language he couldn’t understand.  A resounding clang from a collision of swords, like the toll of a bell, rang out silencing the voices and dimming the light to reveal a massive figure with spread wings made of glimmering swords.  Perched on top of one shoulder was a black haired boy who waved and smiled in his direction with closed eyes.            

An ancient voice rang out, snapping Prompto’s attention back to the massive astral before him. 

“The promise has been fulfilled.  Let the trial begin.” 

Weightlessness overtook him as he fell backwards, the light blurring around him in a haze as he flailed helplessly.  The astral and the boy quickly faded out of sight as if he fell down a tunnel as the darkness engulfed him once more.

 

When he drowsily opened his eyes again it was dark, save for the soft glow of Insomnia’s night lights flooding through partially drawn curtains.  The quiet dripping of an IV bag hooked up to his hand and the slight pain it brought sobered him as he pulled himself upright with a soft sigh.  Looking towards the paper-strewn desk, he could make out Ignis’ figure neatly reclined in the chair, his arms crossed and head tilted down in sleep.  His glasses rested on the top of a nearby book stack while Noctis, the wonder boy who could sleep just about anywhere, anytime, was sprawled on a chair pulled up next to the bed with a blanket (courtesy of Ignis) thrown over him.  It was an unfamiliar, yet somehow familiar sight watching the sleeping forms of his friends as a creeping wave of nostalgia hit him.  The blanket began to slide off of Noctis as he shifted slightly, drawing Prompto’s attention as he leaned in to carefully pull it back up.  As he was just about done saving the blanket from the floor and was going to relax while inspecting his handiwork, he looked up to find bleary eyes focused on him. 

“What’re you smiling at?”

Prompto merely gawked back.  “Ah- huh?”

Noctis raised his hand and it moved towards Prompto’s face, before he visibly hesitated and instead pointed at his mouth before attempting to casually take his arm back.  “You were smiling.”

“I was?” Prompto questioned, tilting his head slightly as he studied Noctis’ expression.

“Mhm.”  He nodded and raised his hand again to reach towards Prompto, who swallowed thickly before the hand changed course to his forehead and rested there.  “No fever…that’s good.”

The hand lingered there before it finally retreated and they sat in silence as the flashing lights from outside moved and shifted into varying hues through the room. “U-uhm, thanks for letting me use your bed by the way, I-I just noticed,” Prompto stuttered, glancing towards the floor as he gripped the edges of the blankets.

Noctis raised an eyebrow at Prompto, who continued to study everything around him as if he was going to be tested on where Noctis kept his things, before giving him a small smile.  “You’re welcome.  Just… don’t go passing out on me like that again.”

Prompto shook his head as a forced laugh found its way out against his will.  “I’ll try my best not to…”

“I’ll be charging a nominal fee for next time then,” Noctis sighed as he leaned further back into his chair, smirking at the resulting laughter he got as a response.

“Dude, you’re just going to rent out your bedroom then?  Should I be looking in the papers for a rental ad?  ‘Looking for tenants!  Come enjoy world-class cooking by the royal advisor!’”  

A lazy smile slid onto Noctis’ face as he tipped his head towards Prompto.  “Hah, Ignis would definitely not approve.  Anyway, how can I rent it out when I have a freeloader here?”

There was a pause, as it took a moment for Prompto regain his attention which scattered when he saw the Prince’s unguarded expression, before he realized what he just said.  Throwing back the blankets, Prompto jokingly made to leave.  “Ahhh, I’ll get going then-”  

Noctis quickly leaned forward, concern coloring his face, to tug Prompto back into the bed, “hey- just stay down for a bit longer… are you feeling okay?”

Soft blonde hair fell as he tilted his head a bit and mulled it over.  “A bit dizzy I guess?”

A stray strand of hair fell into Prompto’s face and Noctis absentmindedly found his gaze fixed on it as he contemplatively hummed.  “Hmmm…guess no school for you tomorrow.”

Prompto blankly stared back.  “Wait, school?”

“Yeah, the thing we have tests in?  You know, high school?  The thing you want to ditch on test days?  Or did you want to set it on fire?” Noctis questioned, searching Prompto’s face for any sign of recognition.  The look he got in return was a blank stare and raised eyebrows that screamed ‘is there something you want to tell me?’.  “…Don’t look at me like that.  It wasn’t my idea.  Your reactions to going varied depending on the day.”

Prompto opened his mouth and closed it again before hesitantly muttering, “but…for some reason I thought we were done…?”

Noctis leaned back and gave him a hard look, his eyebrows raised as Prompto swallowed nervously as he squirmed a bit under the scrutiny even though he hadn’t done anything.  It wasn’t like he had matches or a lighter in his bag.  Definitely not, right?  Unless he suddenly grew some alter ego that was a pyromaniac.

“You really shouldn’t go in tomorrow,” Noctis sighed, turning to look out the window at the softly glowing city lights.   

“Alrighty then.” He nodded, satisfied with having another free day as he fluffed the pillow and threw himself back onto it.  Prompto was tired, but he found his eyes trained on his friend who seemed to be deep in thought. 

A minute passed before he saw Noctis nervously swallow.  “Can you…remember what happened before this today?”

Prompto thought about it as he tilted his head.  “Mmmmm…it’s a bit hazy?”

“Do you at least remember why you came over?” he continued, gently probing as a slight frown began to show.

Prompto closed his eyes and thought about why he would come over.  The answer seemed obvious enough.  “I wanted to see you?”

The fleeting smirk he got in reply was strangely satisfying before he got shut down again.  “No, really.”

“…That’s what actually came to mind though,” Prompto wryly smiled, holding his hands up in defeat as he tried to figure out why Noctis was so strangely fixated on the subject.

“Do you want a hint?”

“Sure…?”

Noctis raised his hand and pointed to his own neck as Prompto gave him a blank stare. “Around there, you…have something there.”

“I have something on my neck?” he asked, feeling around where Noctis had pointed at.  He didn’t feel anything there.  “Can you give me more of a hint than that?”

Noctis winced as he spoke, “ah, uh…you’re um. Girl…friend?”

“What about my-” he stopped as a memory floated to the surface of a girl with a cheerful smile as he swore inwardly. 

“ _Shit.”_

 

_Dark hair swirled in front of him as he followed her down the busy streets of Insomnia as they window shopped for a place to eat.  She had let it go uncharacteristically wild instead of restraining it to the usual braid where none came free._

_“Hey,” she turned to him and smiled, tilting warm brown eyes up at him, “wanna come over to my place instead?”_

_She rarely made requests in the several months they had been together and was incredibly lenient with how often they met, never complaining or accusing that he hung out with Noctis more than her and instead relished the times they did have together.  Yet something was off.  It wasn’t that he didn’t like her- yes, she had been the one who approached him first and asked him out, but they had already been friends at that point so somehow it wasn’t awkward for him.  It felt natural enough- she had a personality that clicked with him, but there was always a slight twinge of guilt that haunted the corners of his mind and the reason for it always eluded him._

_He plastered a smile on his face, “sure!”_

_Her house was larger than his, which wasn’t surprising.  It was ordinary, but warm, with the belongings and trinkets of the people who lived there spread out in a map of their daily life.  He thought of his own house, neat and organized, but it lacked the touch of the people living there.  It couldn’t be helped that his parents worked so much.  They loved him, but sometimes when they thought he wasn’t looking he could see sadness in their eyes._

_“Come on in!  Don’t just stand in the doorway!” she laughed, pulling his arm and guiding him inside.  “Do you want anything to eat or drink?”_

_“I guess something to drink sounds great!” he smiled as he made his way to stand in front of the couch as he watched her head to the kitchen and grab a soda out of the fridge._

_“Have a seat!  You can sit down and relax here,” she laughed, handing him the drink into one hand as she pulled him down to sit on the couch beside her with the other.  They landed with a thud and laughed when their eyes made contact.  Prompto opened the drink and found it quickly emptied as they talked and joked about school, movies, photography, and the usual.  It was comforting falling back into their usual rhythm and Prompto found that the uneasy feeling he had faded as he found himself easily relaxing on the couch.  A snicker sounded in his ear.  “So you finally decided the couch doesn’t have bugs or germs?”_

_“Huh?” he jerked upright in shock as he turned to look at her as she grinned like a cheshire cat._

_She ran a finger down his spine and he yelped at the touch while trying to slap her hand away.  “You were sitting up so straight,” she smirked._

_It was unusual, as Prompto usually was closer to boneless than anything when he sat down.  Ignis would give him that look when he slouched at the table, but he never said anything.  It probably helped that Noctis was usually in the same state or worse than him.  “I can sit properly!  When I want to…or have to,” he retorted._

_“Mhm, heard that one before,” she laughed, tilting her head towards him before leaning on his shoulder.  There was a slight shudder as he stiffened ever so slightly but she kept her head there.  “Hey…is it okay if I?”  He swallowed nervously as she sat back up and gave a slow grin.  Before he could say anything, her hands launched forward as she yelled “attack!” and mercilessly assaulted his sides with tickling.  They fell over in a heap, laughing as he tried to dodge her but she knew his weak spots and persistently feinted to get in some pokes when his guard fell.  It was only after she fell on top of him, pinning his arms to the couch, that they both suddenly became too aware of their compromising positions.  Long black hair blocked his view of everything else as it draped over him as she stared back.  He choked back a nervous laugh as the first thing he thought of was some ghost story, but froze as she leaned forward, desire in her eyes as she pressed her lips to his neck.  Rational thought fled as the hamster wheels in his head unhelpfully offered that maybe this was a vampire story instead of a ghost story as she deepened the kiss and lightly sucked on his neck as a light shiver ran through his spine.  A warm hand cupped his face as she stopped to look at him before she leaned in again, this time aiming for his mouth.  Instead of anticipation, panic hit him as he flailed suddenly, knocking her back as he backpedaled rapidly off of the couch.  They had kissed before so he stood there looking just as confused as her face said she felt, but somehow he was aware that this time things were different._

_“I-I’m sorry, it’s just-” he stammered, covering his mouth and looking at the floor.  Raising his head would mean meeting her eyes and he didn’t want to see the heartbreak that rested there.  He couldn’t give her what she wanted.  Realization hit him like a blow to his gut as he pieced together that he was the one who had lead her on all this time because he was afraid.  Afraid of what he was and afraid of the one he loved because some part of him was still a frightened child; tightly clutching at the things he loved the most while keeping it at a distance and creating substitutes because he feared losing all he had left.  He already lost his home the night his parents sat him down after he had first lost his wristband when he was five._

_“Prompto…you must always keep that mark covered.  No one can know.”_

_“But why…?”_

_“Prompto-”_

_Even at five he knew that Niflheim was essentially a war-crazed country that was bent on reviving a long-past civilization for the sake of power.  After that night he added a new fact to that country.  He was one of them and he would never belong in Lucis.  The mark made sure of that.  That night he had cried inconsolably and after that he quietly withdrew from everything, curling into himself.  His mother blamed his father and their relationship went from occasionally strained to even worse as they argued and he watched from the stairs._

_“He’s just a child!”_

_“But he needed to know!  She didn’t- we didn’t come this far to lose our cover now!” his father yelled back._

_“For whose sake is this cover?  For you or for him?!”  His mother’s face twisted from anger to guilt as his father visibly recoiled, the pain stamped on his face, and her voice apologetically softened.  “Isn’t he here so he could be free from of all of it?”  His father didn’t reply.  They just stood there as the grandfather clock in the living room ticked on, blithely oblivious to everything as they all waited for an answer that never came._

_So he tried to cover it up and forget the empty void that opened up inside of him, but look how splendidly that was going._

_Disappointment reddened her face as she stared at him from the couch.  She got up unsteadily; swaying on her feet as she carefully took a step towards him as if she were afraid he would flee._

_“I knew how you felt…but I thought- well I don’t know why I thought that maybe something would change, but I thought that…maybe something would,” she sighed before she gave a bitter laugh when she saw his shocked expression and his mouth became too dry to respond back.  “You know, it really shows when you look at the pictures you take of him.”_

_When they had still been just friends she used to come over to see his pictures.  What he didn’t know was that she had seen the picture he didn’t want others to see, stashed away in some corner of a desk drawer.  It was from a day where Prompto and Noctis had spent a day at a park for one of Prompto’s photography assignments while Noctis brought some food for the strays that hung around in the area.  Easily snapping away at the surrounding scenery, time passed quickly and before he knew it the sun was setting.  He turned to call for Noctis so they could go back only to see the prince sprawled out on a park bench surrounded by the stray cats as they gathered around the food.  The setting sun cast a soft light that caught on the edges his face and eyelashes as he bent to pet one of the purring cats, a gentle smile peeking through his usually guarded face.  Sunlight shifted through raven hair as Noctis looked up with surprise after hearing the shutter click as the cat ran off.  Feeling a bit guilty at his own impulsiveness, Prompto studied the worn cobbled stones of the park grounds before sneaking a look back at his friend.  When he looked back up he felt he couldn’t breathe as he saw the rare smile again, but it was directed at him as a teasing voice drifted over._

_“I thought you were only taking pictures of the cats?”_

_Tears gathered in the corners of her eyes as she clutched the edges of her shirt and saw that he made no movements towards her.  A soft whisper reached his ears as she turned to leave._

_“Why did things turn out like this.”_

 

A gentle touch drew him back as he saw Noctis standing over him, a hand on his shoulder with worry etched in his face.

“Hey, I’m sorry.  Are you okay now?  It’s just…you were pretty off when you came by earlier.  It was only after we watched a movie that you seemed more normal but then…” he motioned to Prompto sitting in his bed with an IV attached to his arm.

“I’m alright now, thanks Noct,” he smiled sincerely and meant it.  Noctis was one of the few constants in his life since they became friends in their first year of high school and even further before that when they were still two kids in opposite sides of the school only unified in their isolation.  Prompto looked up at his friend to see the worry still hadn’t faded before the realization hit him and he blinked in shock.  “Wait, did you think I tried to-”

“Hurt yourself?” Noctis finished, frowning at his own suspicions.  “When I answered the door you…looked pretty rough.” 

Prompto’s foggy memory supplied the image of Noctis leaning in the doorway before his eyes widened in surprise at his sudden arrival.  Noctis’ voice came out as a whisper as he took in his appearance, haggard and red-eyed with a fresh hickey on his neck.  

_“That’s quite the mixed message you have there.”_

“My passing out and…that are unrelated.  Promise.” Prompto answered, his hands tightening into fists as he remembered what had happened earlier in the day.  There was a sigh and a quiet thud as Noctis fell back into his chair again before he stretched his neck to rest his head on the chair back, his eyes settling back onto Prompto.    

His voice was quiet but steady when he spoke again, its warmth reaching out to Prompto with its assurance.  “You don’t have to tell me what happened today.  I don’t want to force you to tell me but I do want you to know that I’ll be here.” 

Prompto felt his eyes fill as he blinked and he nodded, feeling that gaping void close up as the dizzying emptiness cleared.  “Thanks Noctis.” 

“No problem.”

“Pretty sure that’s the understatement of the year.” Prompto laughed, giving him a quick smile.  He stared out the window at the twinkling lights, before he imagined picking out his ex’s house light out from amongst the rest of the city and looked in as she cried in her bedroom.  The story poured out of him unexpectedly as he stared out the window, listening to Noctis’ replies in his movements as he gave a nod or shifted in thought.  There was a still moment when he finished telling Noctis, who was now leaning on his knees and propped up by his arms as he digested what he heard.

“It sounded like things were going okay, well, not that I would know how to judge a relationship,” he mumbled before he stopped and suddenly sat bolt upright, startling Prompto.  “Wait, why were you suddenly not okay with kissing her?  It’s not like you guys didn’t before.”      

“Well, it felt…different that time and it’s hard to do those kinds of things when you…” he blushed and then paused as the words he wanted to say choked him into silence.

“When you…?” Noctis whispered, listing forward with a confused expression as he tried to gather what Prompto meant.

 _Love someone else_.

His mouth hung open, the words caught in his throat like bits of gravel.  He couldn’t risk losing the place where he found he belonged- where he had purpose.  He couldn’t do it. 

 _Again._  

 

 

Extra 1:

It was a quiet afternoon and Ignis had invited Gladiolus for lunch to discuss what he had deemed ‘something that needs attending to.’  They were well through meal and were munching on some of the freshly baked cookies that Ignis was adjusting the recipe for.  Ignis lazily stirred his coffee before putting the spoon down and taking a sip.  He cleared his throat before keeping his gaze fixed on his coffee cup as he asked.  “What do you think about Prompto?”

Gladiolus looked up after finishing his admiration of the freshly-made treats.  “Huh?  Where’d that come from.”

“I just want a second opinion on the matter.” Ignis calmly said, giving Glaiolus a sharp look as the man had dismissed the issue in favor of devouring what was on his plate.

“He seems like a nice kid,” Gladiolus shrugged, speaking around the food in his mouth.  He swallowed before finishing, “he’s a good friend to Noct.”

An eyebrow raised as Ignis stared him in the eye.  “Just a good friend?”

He got a confused look in return.  “What do you mean?  What else would he be?”

“I-I see…” he sighed, a somewhat stiff smile forming as he mentally yelled to himself.

_I definitely can’t say it!_

 

Extra 2: Lazy Version

N: “Should I check your bag?”

P: “What, it’s not like I have anything weird in it.”

N: “Hmmm…maybe I should.”

P: “Dude.  I am not going to set anything on fire.”

N: “You never know with the cheerful, happy ones…Aren’t they the ones who always do crazy things later in those games?”

P: “Nooooooct!  I’m not like thaaaat!”

N: “Some of the things you say though make me wonder.”

P: “I’m just weird, okay?!  I’m a weirdo!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like a jerk to the poor jilted girl. She’s not a bad person per se, she was just, well, in love (with a hopeless case but you know crap happens whether you want it or not sometimes). Or was. Man, just add me to that list of people who abuses the poor girls who have the misfortune of showing up in a BL.
> 
> By the way, Ignis was totally awake at some point and listening in like a creep. It was their fault for forgetting he was there. He actually woke up earlier but by then it was too late to just get up and leave. 
> 
> Also I think Noctis is one of those really photogenic people….when he doesn’t try. If he tries it’s like “dear child, please don’t.”


	4. 1.5- Promises

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I know it says Chapter 4, but this actually happens (timeline wise) in-between chapters 1 and 2 so I made it 1.5. It's kinda too spoiler-y to be given when it happened so yeah. Sorry?

A black haired boy stood atop the open hand of a massive, armored man, whose wings of steel glittered coldly in the fluctuating light.  They watched in silence as a man with hair the color of the sun and a constellation of freckles across his face quietly float by, curled up within the cradle of his memories.

“Why did you wake,” a deep voice in the ancient tongue rang out, more a statement than a question.

The boy on his hand turned to look back at the steely silver gaze, unflinching as he matched it before he gave a small smile and replied back in the same language.  “You already know why… I heard someone calling so I answered.  Rather, shouldn’t we be speaking of fonder things?  It’s only been, oh say, several millennia since we last spoke.  Well, I’m only guessing from seeing his memories though,” he replied, tilting his head towards the dreamer.  “It’s not like the dates of things from the ancient era were recorded for me to know exactly how long ago things were.”

They stood in silence again at a standoff as they carefully watched the other for a response before the black haired boy smirked and laughed quietly before shaking his head.  “Truly, you haven’t changed a bit Bahamut, master of awkward conversations…”

“As have you,” the astral countered. 

“Well, human desire is a tenacious thing,” the boy murmured, his eyes clouding slightly in thought.

The astral’s silver eyes focused on the boy atop his hand as the boy absentmindedly rubbed his shoulder, a habit he used to soothe himself when troubled, and the steely gaze softened.  “Your companions are doing well.  They wished to visit you after he saw the Chosen King’s fate through to completion.”

The black haired boy’s head snapped to look up at Bahamut with widened eyes before he smiled sadly.  “He hasn’t changed as well, trying to shoulder everything again.”

“And you haven’t done that.” Bahamut retorted, slipping from his formal speech as an image of a lone black haired man kneeling amongst the wreckage and bathed in the dying light of a massive shattered crystal flashed forth from his memories.  The man’s uneven breathing echoed through the growing darkness of the broken chamber as he struggled alone, ignoring the growing tide of liquid silver armor encasing his left arm and leg as it crept towards his chest, and instead raised his trembling right hand once more towards the ruined crystal.  A faltering voice, cracked with sorrow, and speaking a language that had been tarnished and forgotten with time melded into the fading light as it gave way to darkness. 

_Astrals…I beg of you who can hear me… please…aid those who will follow in my steps should I fail…Solheim…has fallen…but there is always hope in the future…_ _please…promise me this…and…I’m sorry._

The boy tilted his head.  “True, but that was my choice and by that point...well, there wasn’t really any other option.  He didn’t- isn’t deciding the fate of your entire line overstepping things a bit?”  He sighed, and shook his head before looking back at Bahamut as a cheeky grin crept onto his face, “by the way, nice to finally hear that my lessons in informal speech weren’t useless.”

“I don’t believe he’ll be pleased to know you’re meddling again,” Bahamut continued, ignoring the comment.

“Since you haven’t put me back to sleep yet means it’s fine,” the boy flippantly replied as he waved off the astral before he paused.  He looked back at Bahamut, the astral who patiently waited within the crystal as the millennia passed.  “Why are you here?”

Bahamut looked back at the black haired boy, who had come stumbling upon the realm of the astrals in his youth.  There were distant memories of a smiling face and mercurial moods that baffled him as much as it transfixed him.  The boy was laughing and smiling as he pulled him over towards a field of blue flowers, gripping his armored hand so tightly in his excitement that he could feel the warmth of the boy’s hand through the metal.  In what felt like a moment, the boy had grown taller and was lost in thought gazing towards the same field with wistful eyes unbefitting those of his age as he slowly rubbed his shoulder.  An uncountable number of years passed, yet this boy was still smiling in front of him again against all odds.           

Words came forth on an impulse from the astral and hung there, suspended as his thoughts found form.  “I wonder…”

The boy jerked his head up to peer at the astral with concerned eyes.  “Huh?  You’ve never been the air-headed type, are you feeling alright?”  A sound like a soft sigh made its way around Bahamut’s iron mask as the corners of his eyes crinkled ever so slightly.  Seeing the astral’s reaction, the boy just shot him an accusing glance as he shook his head and sighed.  “You definitely just laughed right now under that mask.”

The astral’s massive form stood a little straighter in mock indignation but the laughter didn’t leave his eyes.  “I do not understand what you mean.”

Laughter rang out in response as the boy smiled back at the astral.  “Jeez, you really haven’t changed.”  Bright violet light pulsed out from the boy who looked back at the blonde dreamer who gave off the same light.  “Ah- looks like it’s time for me to head out again.”

The astral turned to look at his second unexpected guest, contemplating the still form with a thoughtful gaze.  “The location has been set?”

He nodded, “yes…it was fun talking with you again.  Ah- also treat this guy nicely, okay?  Don’t go teasing him too much now.”

The astral’s eyes fixed on his new charge.  “Understood.”

“Whoa, that’s kind of weird having you be all obedient…Hey, you just wanted to see me all flustered huh, you meanie!” the boy pouted in response to the slight upward tilt in the astral’s eyebrows, which the boy knew happened when he was mildly amused, casting accusing glances towards the astral who was caught in his thoughts. 

“How is the location set?”

The boy smiled widely before answering.  “That’s a secret!”  An eyebrow lifted in response to the reply.

“What?  You can see for yourself how things work.” He grumbled before giving way to the astral’s demands.  “Anyways, the effect can differ depending on the person but in general it’s dictated by strong emotions.”

“I see.”

The boy studied the astral’s expression before cutting to the point.  “You just wanted me to keep talking.”  Bahamut stared at him quietly and made no move to deny the observation.  Silence filled the gap between them before the boy broke it again.  “Hey…thank you.”

“How am I supposed to respond to that?”

“You just stand there a-and soak it in, okay?!” the boy blustered as his cheeks gained a faint reddish tinge.  It wasn’t often that he got caught off-guard by the notoriously stoic astral, even though the stiff image of the astral had faded as the years they had known each other passed; it was still a jarring experience.

The slight crinkle around the astral’s eyes reappeared.  “Okay.”

In return, he merely got a disapproving shake of the head.  “Haaah.  You need some more lessons.”

“Indeed…” the astral hesitated, before lapsing into silence again.  The boy opened his mouth to reply but stopped himself short.  Promises were something to be made only if they could be kept.     

The boy straightened before he nodded, “well, then…it was nice to see you again.”

“It was.”

The boy gave a soft smile and waved at the astral before he glowed with a violet light that engulfed his body and the dreamer’s before they vanished in a trail of shimmering dust.     

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uh, so there's an OC? Guess I should tag that (rather there's like a couple others too that'll show up eventually). Whoops. I hope it's not too cringey. Also, I know it canonically says the first king and the crystal and crap happened 2000 years ago. But really!? 114 generations in 2000 years- were they all suicidal or alcoholic and keeling over at like age 20 or something? I mean yeah Regis looked old and he aged faster cause of the crystal but the man made it to at least 50. Can someone please do the math and tell me that makes any kind of sense??? (FFXV, why you do this)


	5. Déjà vu

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> -sweats nervously-  
> Hello, I am alive. It's just that I feel it'll be about a year more before I finally finish this LOL
> 
> To sum it up:  
> Me: Yaaay, summer! Now I can relax and-  
> Work: Bi*** you thought.  
> I ended up working full-time for 2 months instead. Then I just wanted to potato so writing was kinda slow. Whoops. Guess it’s back to monthly(?) updates. Hah, guess I have to write another chapter then this month…

_Again?_

It wasn’t a large revelation for him that he was irreconcilably in love with his best friend, but it was the disconcerting feeling that this had happened before that made him pause.

_But why?_

It wasn’t something that he could ever say.  It was taboo, no go, out of the question.  Impossible. 

Sure he had mused about how he would hypothetically tell him before because his imagination and reality were two very different things.  He couldn’t just march out and go “hey, yeah! I know we’re friends and you probably don’t swing that way (for the astrals’ sakes you have Luna, and I would almost feel like decking you if there was someone else) but I like you?”  It was enough to stay near him as his friend.    

_But is it really enough?_

Sometimes he wondered if he could strangle that tiny voice in his head because it always asked the questions he never had an answer to.

_It’s nothing, it’s nothing.  Everything is fine._

Well, at least it was fine except for the fact that it felt like his life was jammed on a repeat he couldn’t remember.

“Heeeey, you listening?”

He started, dropping the photos he was sorting to the floor.  The warmth rising to his face told him that he was flushing uncontrollably as he scrambled to pick them up under the thoughtful gaze of his smirking friend.

“I think that means no,” Noctis snickered as he got up from the couch to collect a stray photo of a cat sprawling lazily in dappled shade of a tree, its tail curling in content.  “You have a lot of animal pictures.”

Prompto nodded as he reached to collect a picture of a bird bathing in a pond at the park.  “Yeah, looking at them relaxes me.”  Animals used to be the only subjects he used to seek out to take pictures of before especially in the years after he got his first camera from his father.  They never spoke much as he was rarely home, but his father was someone who remained in his mind as a thoughtful silhouette; his broad yet stoic back ever present even as he searched for a distant past. 

_“Prompto.”  A tall man stood outside the door, the rap of his knuckles echoing through the small hallway._

_A whisper answered.  “I don’t belong here.”_

_The voice got closer to his ear as he heard his father kneel on the other side. “That’s not true Prompto.  You live here right?  It’s your home too, just like everyone else.”  A stifled sob made its way through the door as he slowly cracked it open, gently pushing Prompto, who had been leaning back against the door, over as he cautiously crept in.  Reddened and watery purple-blue eyes the color of a swirling nebula looked up at the shocked man, who stilled at an uncanny resemblance to another, before he swept Prompto up into a hug.  Warm hands ran through mussed blonde hair before they locked the boy into his grip; and that was how they stayed._

_Later that evening there was another knock on his door.  Although both parents had been unsuccessful in getting him to leave his room, the door opened a crack as the small boy with watery eyes peered out.  It was his father again, but he was holding a package._

_“I got you something that I think you’ll like,” he offered, placing it on the floor when Prompto didn’t move.  A small hand wavered before peeling back the bag to reveal a camera.  It was worn and used, but still in decent condition.  He looked up in confusion at the man who was quietly waiting for his response._

_“Prompto, if you still don’t feel that anything belongs to you, then use this to make it yours.” He replied, motioning to the camera in Prompto’s hands.  “It’ll be…a moment in time that exists for you.”  A soft smile formed on the man’s face as Prompto gently put the camera back down and threw himself into his father’s side, wrapping his small arms as far as they could go around him._

_“How do you know that?” Prompto snuffled, as he lifted his face from where it was buried into his father’s shirt._

_“…I think I heard it once from someone else before.  Come on now, dry those eyes so you can see how this works-”_         

They had spent the rest of the day taking pictures of the house, documenting every inch down to his worn chocobo plush.  He had no real artistic motivation for taking the pictures yet, but he was content with quietly wandering around snapping pictures of what he saw, claiming his life picture by picture.

“-So what dream did you have last night?  You sent a really weird text at three in the morning.” Noctis’ voice was jarringly loud from his new, and currently sprawled out position on the couch.  It was a legitimate question, one that he even asked himself that morning when he saw his phone again. 

: duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude.

: dream was cool

: dreams are cool

: I cant get married

: until i find that sunshiney place with flowers that smell good

: what flowers are blu but are liek tiny clouds

: hey im gona find the

Prince who needs his hair cut (Noctis): what????

 

“I had a dream with a really beautiful woman in it and she said she loved me,” Prompto sighed.  A woman with rippling black hair spilling over her shoulders like a sea had waited for him in a quaint cottage full of sunshine and blue flowers.  Her words were unintelligible but her voice was soft and indulgent, encircling him as she had reached out to hug him.  Snorted laughter drew his glare as his friend tried to cover it up with some well-placed coughs.

“You were definitely dreaming,” Noctis sputtered.   Prompto swatted at Noctis but hit air as he dodged.  Apparently the combat training hadn’t been useless.  He pictured Gladio reprimanding him, chest puffed out proclaiming, “of course it’s good for something!”

“Shut up!  I don’t care what you think, but I think it was destiny~” he sighed, clasping his hands together while Noctis rolled his eyes.

“Hey, don’t roll those eyes at me!  They’re gonna fall out some day and Iggy won’t even help you, he’ll just stand there and laugh.” He scolded, shaking his finger at the prince who was in one of the last stages of becoming one with the couch.

A smirk was accompanied by another roll of the eyes.  “Whatever you say.”

“Why, have you had any interesting dreams lately?” Prompto shot back, clearly determined to ignore the eye rolling if he couldn’t get him to stop.

Noctis just shrugged as he thought about it.  “Mmmm, not really.  There’s just this tired looking guy in it.  I feel like I’ve seen him somewhere, but I can’t remember where.  I think he’s watching me.” 

The dream had been fairly normal at the start.   He had been fishing in a pond in the woods trying to catch the infamous Chocofish (whatever that was), until he noticed a man sitting a little further back amongst the trees.  He was sitting with his legs sprawled out at the base of a throne, head leaning on the seat with his eyes closed as if he was asleep.  Noctis continued fishing, figuring the man wouldn’t mind if he caught the fish he came for.  His lure bobbed under as the weird yellow feathered fish bit down but before he could reel it in he felt a sharp pressure.  Dropping his fishing rod, the pressure grew heavier as he looked up to find that the man had opened his eyes, his gaze sharpening suddenly as he caught sight of Noctis.  The forest vanished in a blur but the man remained, leisurely watching his panicked reaction.  A glossy, checkered black floor appeared beneath his feet as he looked down and as he looked up he realized that he was sitting up in his bed wide awake.

Prompto stopped arranging his photos into binders as he thought about it.  “Weird.  So does that mean you feel self-conscious?”

“Huh?”

“They say that the content of the dream usually doesn’t matter much.  ‘It’s the overall feeling that counts,’ or something like that,” he shrugged, returning to his work.

“Is that right?”  Noctis frowned.  The feeling he had gotten from that dream was definitely not a good one.  Shaking his head, he heaved himself off of the couch in a fashion that earned him a laugh from Prompto. 

“You look like some old man trying to get to his feet,” Prompto remarked, his mouth wobbling as he tried not to smile too broadly. 

 “Have some respect for the elderly!  Anyway, let’s go grab some food.  Ignis is busy today so he won’t be coming.”  Noctis yawned, grabbing for his phone on the coffee table and picking up his wallet. 

Prompto nodded in agreement and ran off to grab his bag after throwing the photo binder off to the side.  “Cool!  Let’s go grab some burgers I’m starving!”

The prince leaned against the door frame, keeping it propped open as Prompto struggled with his shoes.  “You’re eating the lettuce and tomatoes if they mess up the order again.”

A blur of blonde hair startled him as Prompto bounced up, shoes ready and bag on hand as he bounded out the door.  He spun sharply on his heel as he grabbed the door by the knob, holding the door open with a wide grin on his face.  “After you, my prince.”

 

Their usual burger joint was a small one nestled within the maze of narrow, quiet sidestreets away from the main roads in the city.  Located right next to an arcade, it was where they usually frequented due to its close proximity to Noctis’ place and where they usually hung out after school.  Everything was as it should be after the dinner rush hour with only a few people trudging their way home from work after finishing overtime.  What was unusual was the impromptu construction site that seemingly popped up overnight, as there had been no sign that it would take place a week before to warn of a street closure or anything. Construction was not unusual, but the fact that they had managed to jam a crane into the narrow lot was.  Tape usually marked off areas where people could continue making their way through, but that was all but absent.

“Jeez, that looks dangerous.” Prompto muttered, stopping to frown at the sight of a steel girder with a much shorter, cut piece stacked on top of it still suspended by the crane partially over the sidewalk across the street right next to the crosswalk.  It was slightly unnerving, yet he wasn’t surprised by it.  His gut told him nothing would happen so he ignored it, shaking his head and jogging to catch up to the prince; Captain Oblivious who had continued making his way over to their destination, crossing the street completely undeterred.  The light changed after Noctis reached the other side of the street near the construction site, leaving Prompto stranded on the other side.  Prompto could see the prince’s lips moving, and then saw Noctis look around in mild confusion as he realized that he was missing someone when he received no response. 

“Heeeey, wait up Noct!  You can’t be that hungry right?”  There was a shrug and a smirk as Noctis turned around and jokingly made off for the shop before he turned and stopped to wait near another small group waiting to cross in the other direction as he heard Prompto’s exasperated groan.  “Come on Noct, I’m almost there.” 

Prompto looked right and left at the street and considered just running across since the light was more of a formality than a necessity on the side streets.  A sharp screech of metal followed by an ominous snap cut his deliberations short as he sprinted to the other side.                  

_He was supposed to have crossed the street, rejoined him and then they went to eat-_

“LOOK OUT!”

Noctis’ head snapped up to see the smaller piece fall and he quickly dropped his bag to shove a girl and her mother out of its way.  The shortened piece smashed into the concrete beside him but the others were out of the way.  But that wasn’t the only thing to fall.    

_Nothing was supposed to fall_

Yet it fell and the person it was going to hit was-

_Noctis._

He felt his eyes heat up as his desperation grew, his legs moving as fast as they could and his arm stretching out reaching towards his friend but he still wouldn’t make it.

_Shit. Shit shit shit everything just needed to_

“STOOOOOOOP!”

Prompto had squeezed his eyes shut at the last moment, hoping he wouldn’t hear the crash as the girder hit the floor, but it never came.  All around him there was dead silence.  He could hear his body trembling uncontrollably as he unsteadily gasped in air through his mouth.  There was no way he could bring himself to look.

“Prompto.”

Hands firmly gripped his shoulders causing him to flinch back a bit.

“Prompto, hey, look at me.  I’m fine.  Just breathe, okay?”

It finally registered to him that it was Noctis and he snapped his eyes open to make sure that he really was alright.  His friend’s face was a bit pale and he had that worried face again, but he was fine. 

_What is there to worry about then?_

“Hey.”  Prompto’s attention flipped back to Noctis, who was practically holding him upright with his grip.

“I need you to listen to me okay?”  His voice wavered a bit, “I need you to calm down because I’m pretty sure I’m not the one who’s doing this.”

Prompto swallowed once and tried to wet his dry mouth, “what…do you mean?”  Noctis just motioned with his head to the scene behind him.

Whether it was the girder, snapped cable, dangling hook- it was all suspended before him.  It didn’t end there however.  People were stopped midstep as they tried to flee and the traffic light stood with its light unchanging.  Everything had stopped.  A slight flickering distortion ebbed through the area as though they were all surrounded by water.  His mouth dropped open in shock and he slowly sank to the floor with Noctis easing him down as he also sat in front of him.  The corners of his vision swam as the tension drained out of him and his head dropped forward onto Noctis.        

Magic.

It was magic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Random Things:  
> Literally me: Writing the chapter thinking “Yer a wizard Harry!”
> 
> Also, I was debating if I should make Truck-san appear but then I realized that’s why Truck-san shows up in so many works…writers need an easy disaster that seems realistic enough LOL Also with how people drive in general it’s like “gee, no wonder.”
> 
> Don’t ask me how closing your eyes means you won’t hear anything either (I’m looking at you Prompto).
> 
> Sorry for so many flash-back thingies but really Square, why you gotta have so many potholes. Also sorry for bad transitions LOL I am aware of how many times he's passed out now since the start. There's also way more ???? than actual answers but there are reasons! It's getting there! Eventually! (marks of a crappy writer, but I swear I planned this out. Please believe me LOL)


	6. Unexpected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I am sorry that this is so late! Hopefully this one chapter which is the length of roughly two chapters will make up for that.

It was another dream.  Or at least he was pretty sure he was dreaming because he didn’t feel as much pain as he should have as he was pushed flat onto his stomach, the pebbles of the dirt path digging into his face as hot and sticky hands moved to press it down.  Struggling against his oppressors, he defiantly raised his head to make out the figures of a small group of boys as their gangly shadows blocked the sunlight.   

 _What kind of dream starts like this?_         

Nothing but dirt and sky filled his view as he was shoved back down again only to see a well-polished shoe stop near his hand.  The boy’s hot breath brushed past his ear as he leaned in, the sneer curling in his voice.  “How did a runt like you manage to get your Mark already?”

_My what?_

The hands gripping him tightened as he squirmed trying to find a position where he would have the opening he needed to jump free.  A shoe pressed onto his head, slowly grinding his cheek against the ground as the boy’s voice dripped with venomous contempt, “hmph, not so tough now since they aren’t here to protect you huh?”

Wild laugher, sonorous and menacing, filled the air as the boys all instinctively froze and the foot on his head silently withdrew along with the hands that had pinned him down.  Nervous whispers filled the air as they stood, legs still locked with fear.    

“Should we run?!  Is it too late to run?!”    

“Crap, I can’t go home missing my shoes again…the last time my mom made me go fish them out of the river when I told her where they were.  The river is right there too…”

“Why didn’t we choose another location!?”

“Aaagh, what kind of instincts does that monster have!?  He’s only been gone for five minutes at most…”

“I don’t wanna die today!”

“Let’s go already then!”

Loud.  That was the first thing that came to mind as he picked himself up and saw her standing near the river bank, screaming at the retreating figures. 

“You’d better run before I beat your sorry asses and hang you out to dry!”  However, foul-mouthed was not the next description that instinctively came to mind when he saw that petite figure running towards him; it was inexplicable warmth as a paradoxically soft yet solid feeling permeated through his chest.  She was the column of blazing summer sunshine in midday compacted down into straight black hair and eyes like the whirling colors heralding the transition to autumn set in a face with the fine proportions of a doll’s.  Beautiful- until she opened her mouth and a scowl formed as she put her hands on her hips. “Tch, a bunch of weaklings that only come when they think no one’s looking.  Absolutely nooooo shame!”  As soon as her head turned towards him, a worried smile came just as quickly as the scowl had.  “Hey, are you okay?”  He winced a bit as her hands brushed over the scratches on his face, her scowl from earlier returning as it turned murderous.  “Astrals above, I’ll flatten those fuckin’ assholes someday.” 

“Well they clearly aren’t masochists to stick around when you show up.  Is he okay?”  A new voice cut in that was equally calm, mildly amused, and obviously worried.  Prompto looked over to see a lean, brown-haired boy hurry over through the grassy field along the river, hands rummaging through his worn bag as he pulled out a clean white bandage. 

“What I don’t get is how they can pick on someone like him.” She spat, disbelief and outrage stamped on her face as she pulled a surprised Prompto into a backbreaking hug.

“They’re just jealous because he got his Mark before they did,” he paused and anger colored his clean features before he muttered, “to which I hope none of them ever get one.”  Thankfully the boy noticed Prompto struggling a bit in the girl’s embrace as the air he had left was running short.  “Hey, stop smashing him so I can treat him,” he chastised.  Her face twisted up into a relenting, but exasperated expression as she unwillingly relinquished her hold.  “Alright, look this way.”  Gentle hands turned his head as his gaze locked with the boy’s as he found his face being searched by eyes the shade of tree leaves after a summer shower.  He didn’t feel a thing as the boy carefully placed the bandage and gave his face another once-over for any other wounds before he nodded, pleased by his handiwork.  “That should do it.”    

“It’s easy to see why the Crystal doesn’t like them much, buncha bullies.  Just cause they have a last name since they’re nobles doesn’t make them deserve a Mark,” she growled, frowning while the other boy remained quiet as a sudden flicker of something darker than anger showed itself and disappeared.   Her gaze was troubled as she glanced at the brown-haired boy before turning back to him with a broad smile that melted any of the unease.  “Aaaanyways, we all got our Mark on the same day!  Maybe it was fated that we match up like that?”

The boy dipped his head in agreement but then stopped, opened his mouth and paused before he closed it again as he narrowed his eyes.  “Speaaaking of matching….how come I still don’t have a nickname?”

She jumped and turned towards him, throwing her hands up in the air.  “You’re still stuck on that!?  It’s cause your name doesn’t shorten down that well!  We went over this before!”

“Huh!?  Well he’s got one, and you have one, so why can’t I get one?” he complained, pointing at the two of them.          

Her brow wrinkled up in thought as she leisurely stroked her chin.  An idea popped into her head as she clapped her hands together and nodded in approval.  “I guess we could call you ‘Fat’ if you insist,” she drawled, smirking widely as he stared blankly back.

“Really.  That’s all you can think of?”

“Well Fateor isn’t really a name with anything cute in it,” she shrugged. 

“Come on.”

Crossing her arms, she frowned as she continued, “on top of that you haven’t really done anything cute.”

“Lu- please?” he begged, schooling his expression into something borderline pitiful.    

“Well I mean we could try Eo, but that just sounds like someone found something gross so they started yelling.”

Fateor’s face morphed into shock.  “That’s it.  Our friendship is over.”

“What friendship?  You’re like the brother I never asked for but got.”

“You would only be so lucky to have a brother like me-”

Prompto could only watch in dumbfounded silence as they bickered.  A voice that wasn’t his own cut into their argument as words suddenly spilled freely out of his mouth.  “How about Teo?”

They looked at each other in surprise before smiling.  Fateor reached over and ruffled his hair while Lu complained.  “Hey, stop hogging his head!  I want a turn.”

He ignored her and kept rubbing his hair into a bird’s nest.  “Nice job Rae.”

_Rae?_

 “I can’t believe I didn’t think about that,” Lu sighed with an expression like she had found enlightenment stamped on her face. 

Fateor’s expression turned deadpan.  “Admit it, you just wanted to call me fat.”

She didn’t bother hiding anything as she gave a nonchalant shrug with a wide smirk as she walked back towards the path by the river.  “Yeah I did.”

“Why you-!  Ugh, I give up, let’s go home before we get yelled at by the sister,” Fateor sighed as he trailed after Lu. 

“Wait!”  Lu whirled around suddenly, startling him as she quickly tromped back to grab one of Prompto’s hands with a smile and nodded at Fateor, who took his other.   

“That feels much better!  Come on, let’s go Rae!” she shouted, the warmth of her hand warming his as she gripped it and cheerfully began to swing.  While one of Prompto’s hands was warm, the other hand was contrastingly cool and still in Fateor’s hold as the boy stopped walking to stare at Lu.

“I don’t count?” he asked, his eyebrows raised.

“Not for today,” she chirped gently pulling on Prompto’s arm in a signal to just drag Fateor along with them.  As they made their way further along the path an aging bell tower draped in ivy came into view.  A woman with flowing black hair, her figure somewhat familiar to Prompto, stood at its base, smiling and waving as they came closer.  The bell toll rang out, marking the sixth hour as it drowned out their chatter and a single question drifted to the surface of his mind.

_Who’s Rae?_

 

Prompto opened his eyes to see a familiar ceiling and immediately recognized one important fact.  He had passed out _again_ , which meant he was inconveniencing his one and only best friend for what, the second or third time?  Slapping his hands on his face, he wearily rubbed at it and groaned.  The extra weight on the bed and the chair pulled up beside it told him he wasn’t alone this time either. 

He nervously wet his lips.  “How long was I out this time?” he croaked.

“Couple days,” Noctis mumbled into the covers from where he sat with his face planted into the bed. 

All traces of drowsiness were gone as he sat bolt upright and tried to refrain himself from grabbing Noct and giving him a shake to somehow fill in the time he had missed.  “DAYS!?”

Noctis sighed, and sleepily rubbed his eyes as he pulled himself into a slightly more upright position.  “Well, I think you were using magic that would have needed more than one person to do.”

Pacified, Prompto leaned back against the headboard.  “Riiiight.  Wait what-”  He stopped short as images of a world in stasis flooded into his mind as he recalled what had happened, or rather, what he had done.

_That’s right.  I was a freak._

It took a moment for it to sink in.

_Crap I was a freak and now he knows I’m a freak and I had no idea I was THIS much of one either but what if- what if it’s not okay?  Would he still- would they still-_

There was only one word that he could squeeze out as his brain overloaded and he tried to avoid the conclusion that came next.  “H-how…?”

Noctis seemed to be completely oblivious to his panic as he yawned before answering.  “I didn’t know.  So I asked Luna.”

“You wha- wait, that makes sense I guess,” he nodded, fidgeting with his hands before clasping them together to stop himself from showing his unease.  Before he could stop himself, his brain helpfully supplied the image of Noctis groveling at Luna’s feet as he asked her, and the laughter just bubbled out of him.  “Pffft.  Do you run to her like that for everything?  ‘Ms. All-Knowing Oracle, please help me.’  Someday she’ll just run off with some capable guy like Ignis instead of her fishing fanatic childhood friend.  What’s that one trope?  The close friend never wins the girl?” he babbled, trying to play it off as if nothing was wrong.  If Noctis wasn’t going to make a big deal of it then he would try to ignore it.  The thing that Noctis didn’t ignore however was the jab to his soft spot as he gave Prompto the ‘why are you like this’ frown.

“Fiiine, fine, what did she say?” he acquiesced, hoping he hid the waver in his voice as he waited on Noctis who was deep in thought. 

“It’s-

_The traffic lights blinked unsteadily as if they had been reset, coloring the pavement in dim, alternating hues of red, yellow, and green light.  Those who had been stopped by the spell walked in a daze, murmuring in confusion as they looked to see that no one was harmed and that what they had been running to avoid had already fallen.  Seeing that no one seemed to be worse for the wear, Noctis quickly slung the unconscious blonde over his back and speed-dialed Ignis as he made his way back to the apartment._

_He finished up his call with Ignis, who agreed to investigate the scene, and hurriedly fumbled through his pocket with one hand to fish out his cardkey before Prompto could slide off his back.  Settling Prompto into his bed as best he could, he closed his bedroom door and pulled out his phone again, grimacing as he called Ignis back to explain._

_“He WHAT!?” Ignis yelled as Noctis winced, recoiling as he pulled the phone back and let him yell for a bit._

_Noctis sighed, running his hand through his hair.  “He used magic.”_

_The doubt was heavy in Ignis’ voice.  “You’re sure?”_

_“Yes, I’m sure that I saw it.  The only other proof that it happened is that I’m not flattened under that beam you’re looking at right now.”  He knew it was nuts, but there was no other explanation for how everything had just…stopped._

_“But how-” Ignis cut himself off and fell silent.  “I’ll look into it, but there is no guarantee there’s an answer.  I don’t recall there being cases like this unless you somehow allowed him to use yours.  Even then that kind of thing just isn’t- it shouldn’t be possible.”  There was a quiet exhale as Ignis tried to wrap his mind around the situation.  “Keep an eye on him while I finish up here,” he finished, politely excusing himself as he hung up.  Noctis let his hand holding the phone drop and swing listlessly as he stared at the carpet.  Minutes passed before he sat down heavily onto the couch, throwing his head back to stare at the patterns on the ceiling.  Things were going to get complicated in a way he hadn’t expected.  If it came down to it, they might have to force Prompto into joining the Crownsguard.  But he didn’t want that.  Of the people who were closest to him, three out of four were tied to him because of his status.  Ignis, Gladioulus, Luna- they were people who he was expected to associate with as the future king.  It wasn’t that he disliked their company, but he had always wanted a friend outside from who he was as the crown prince; someone who wasn’t a part of an expectation he had to uphold.  That was Prompto.  His appearance had been like a passing comet pulled out of its path that slowly came to orbit where he was fixed in place.  Their start had been a simple one, something that Prompto had inadvertently tried to gloss over when he finally spoke up.  He remembered though._

_It was quiet behind the school building and away from the prying eyes and irksome questioning that he wanted nothing to do with.  He was always alone, until one day a blonde boy came tripping over the P.E. equipment hesitantly calling his name.  That wasn’t the only thing that was memorable.  He asked if he was okay, but the boy merely replied that his camera was fine and tried to give it to him when he offered his hand.  It was so bizarre that he laughed, something he couldn’t remember the last time doing when he came to school.  They were interrupted by the bell, to which he had to run or face the wrath of Ignis, but after that they didn’t meet again.  Instead he saw him peering around corners, hiding behind things that didn’t conceal him that well, or trying to make a stealthy getaway that was hampered by the telling sound of his footsteps._

_Their eyes never met, but there was a strange determination in that gaze that sparked his curiosity.  They may have not been in the same class then but he found his eyes seeking out that solitary boy, someone who was similar to him in their isolation.  He would find himself looking behind trying to catch a glimpse of him, checking over his shoulder, or waiting to hear him make his getaway.  While some part of him wanted to go up to the boy another part always hesitated and he took a step back with, “I’ll try again later,” as his consolation.  The days ticked by but he found that one day he wasn’t able to try again later.  When he turned to look no one was there.  Ignis had asked him about it once when he saw him looking over his shoulder._

_“It’s nothing,” he had replied.  But he knew that wasn’t the truth._

_Middle school felt like more of the same thing.  Classes filled with curious students who stared like he was an animal at the zoo made him almost enjoy getting out of the school for his private lessons which provided a different kind of torture that made him regret leaving.  Out of the corner of his eye he would spy flashes of blonde hair the color of the sun dart in and out of view, but the person it belonged to never stayed still long enough for him to see.  Years continued to pass._

_A new year and a new school came, but the chatter of the other students as they watched him walk and stare didn’t change. If he could lodge a complaint, he would wish that the amount of higher pitched voices around him were quieter, or decreased, or something.  For some reason as he grew older they had only gotten louder and drowned out pretty much everything else.  Hands slung in his pockets, he inwardly sighed and studied the cobbled brick pathway as he made his way to the building.  It seemed that it would be four more years of the same thing- until his world tilted forward and a flash of blonde hair passed by.  Righting himself he turned to look and then stopped.  When he was younger, he had used to wonder what he would have said if they met again._

_Now that they were face-to-face, all that came out was, “huh?”_

_The human anomaly in front of him ignored his disbelief and continued introducing himself unfazed.  He almost missed his name, Prompto he had said, as he just stared.  His eyes wandered from the freckled face with the blue-purple eyes of a galaxy down as he took in the lithe form he cut in his uniform.  Glancing back up, he noticed the slight nervous twitch of Prompto’s fingers and his ears tinged with a slight blush.  Even after all of those years some things didn’t change in the boy who hid when he walked by, always staring from afar.  Lips curling into a slightly rueful smile, he broke the awkward silence._

_“Don’t I know you?”_

_Prompto’s eyes widened as he gave an embarrassed laugh, his hand smoothing the back of his hair.  They naturally fell into step beside each other as if they had known each other for years as they walked together.  His eyes closed in content as he smiled and returned the tap he had received earlier.  Prompto turned to him and as their gaze intersected he couldn’t help but feel like he had found what he was waiting for.  He wasn’t alone anymore as the far-off comet he had watched as a child came to stay._

_Sighing, he pulled up a chair and sat there watching as the covers on his bed rose and fell quietly as Prompto slept, the streetlights reflecting off of his hair creating a soft halo of light.  He sighed again.  His friend was a mess these past few months.  While he meant that affectionately, it was also equally worrying.  Reaching over to his nightstand, he carefully pulled it open to avoid waking Prompto and pulled out a small, red notebook.  He needed some help._

_Small footsteps pattered across smooth marble floors as a sleek black dog with white markings trotted over towards a red sofa, his owner’s platinum blond hair visible over the sofa’s edge.  Luna turned as she heard him coming and smiled, “oh, Umbra, you’re back.”  Reaching around his neck, she untied the small bag he wore and took out a red notebook from it, petting Umbra as she put it on her lap to read.  She ran her fingers over the worn cover, feeling out the small marks that time had made over its travels between them.  Flipping it open, she smoothed the pressed sylleblossom before turning to the newest page while a dark figure moved across from her as Gentiana pulled and reorganized the books in the bookshelf._

_“Gentiana, I have a question to ask.”_

_“Yes, Lady Lunafreya?”_

_Luna hesitated as she traced out the pen marks on the page as if she doubted her eyes.  “Is it…possible for someone to use magic if it isn’t through the royal family?”_

_There was a slight slowing in Gentiana’s movements as she asked, closing one side of the bookshelf that she had finished.  “What kind of magic?”_

_Luna sighed, and shook her head as a nagging worry began to build.  “From what was described, I would guess…time magic.”_

_Bird song filled the room and Gentiana turned away from Luna seated on the couch as her fingers ran contemplatively over the smooth wood of the bookshelf.  The closed glass door on the opposite side reflected a glimpse of Gentiana’s expression as countless shadows flickered in her eyes and her red lips curled into a rare laugh.  “I don’t know.”_

_Luna looked up in surprise, her perplexed expression easing as Gentiana turned and smiled._

_“I don’t know.”_

_“But how would you not…?” Luna whispered as her voice trailed off in disbelief._

_“Even if I told you,” Gentiana paused as a wistful smile tinged with remorse flickered around the edges of her lips, “it would not be remembered.”_

Noctis merely motioned with his head over to where the red notebook sat on the nightstand as he replied.  “Luna also doesn’t know.  But she did say that you should be fine.”

“I-I see.  Well I guess that’s one less worry.  Right!  Moping done.  I…guess I’m just a wizard or something now.”  Prompto nodded with a smile but his hand gripped the blanket.  This time the Prince had woken up enough to notice.

“Hey.”

Startled, Prompto jerked his head over, eyes wide.  “What?”

“Whatever happens, it’ll be okay,” Noctis’ voice softened, gaining a slight huskiness as he turned his head away while Prompto stared at a loss for words.

“I-” Prompto started but stopped.  Noctis looked back and waited while Prompto studied his lap, the words spilling out slowly in a whisper of disbelief.  “Are you sure…?  Is it really okay?”

Noctis smiled.  “Why wouldn’t it be?  You don’t think I’m weird for being able to use magic, right?”

Prompto vehemently shook his head. “N-no!  Of course not.”

His voice was quiet but resolute.  “Then it’s the same for me.” 

It was said as if it were a simple thing when the reality was far from it.  As if it didn’t matter that Prompto had access to something that had long since vanished save for the royal family.  As if it didn’t matter that he was this anomalous freak wielding something he wasn’t supposed to have- someone who wasn’t even a Crownsguard, Kingsglaive, or Lucian citizen either for that matter.  It didn’t matter because they were friends and that was all that mattered to Noctis. The lights in the room blurred into glowing orbs as he felt his eyes grow hot.  There was a pause as Noctis bashfully rubbed at the back of his neck while Prompto stealthily wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand. 

“So…do you feel any different?” Noctis tentatively continued.         

Prompto gave a soft sniffle as he rubbed at his nose.  “Not really?”

Noctis reached over and handed a tissue from his nightstand to Prompto.  “Just tired then?  That’s how I feel when I overuse my magic.”

Prompto nodded and gratefully accepted the tissue.  “Yeah…wait, did I use your magic?”

Noctis shook his head.  “I don’t know what happened, but I know that I can’t use time magic to just…stop everything.  If I did, I would have used it on tests.  Or to sleep in.”

A sudden realization struck Prompto as his hand fell and slapped the comforter.  “Dang, you’re right!  But we’re almost done with school.”  His head tilted back as he scrunched up his face in disappointment.  “Uuuugh, the wasted opportunity!”

There was a stifled snort as Noctis gave a joking reprimand, raising his eyebrows in mock horror.  “That would make you a cheater.”

A sweet yet plying smile appeared as Prompto tilted his head.  “Only if you didn’t say anything.” 

The smile drooped as a deadpan reply cut through it.  “I would definitely throw you under the bus.  No remorse.”

There was a recovery as the smile turned sweeter and rebounded with a bribe. “Well, then I would obviously use it so you could do it too.”

Noctis laughed as he helplessly shook his head.  “Hah, fair enough.  But Ignis would chew me out still because he would just know.”

Blonde hair swayed lightly as Prompto gave a knowing nod, his arms crossed and eyes closed.  “That ‘Spec-sense’ is strong huh.”

“The what?” Noctis asked with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

Prompto flippantly waved as he dismissed it.  “Nah, forget it.”

Somewhere in Lucis, a sneeze was heard as Ignis sniffled and frowned.  “Someone just said something about me.”  Gladiolus looked over at the man who was trying to prepare some pastry dough and grinned.

“You sure it’s not just what you’re doing right now?”

He pushed his glasses further up onto his nose with the back of his flour-covered hand.  “No, I definitely got the feeling that it was something someone said.”

Gladiolus shrugged and shook his head as he resumed his training.  “Whatever you say.”

Noctis glanced at the small digital clock on the nightstand as it dimly read 10:23PM.  “You should get some sleep.”

The bed was way too warm and inviting for Prompto to even think of leaving it as he felt sleep pull at his eyelids.  “Sure, sure,” he yawned before stopping.  “Wait, I think gotta grab something still from home though.”

The bed creaked as Noctis let his body fall forward into it as he stretched his arms out across the bottom.  “Don’t you have pretty much the basics here though?” he mumbled, propping himself up onto his arms.

Ignis had silently partitioned off a portion of one of the cabinets and dubbed it “Prompto’s Pile,” which was a slowly growing mound of things that Prompto used when he stayed that were then kept in the general area.  While it raised Ignis’ eyebrow for how Prompto ever found anything, he had simply replied, “organized chaos.”  He received a shrug in return. 

Prompto shook his head.  “I do, but I need to grab something still.”

Noctis lazily leaned on one hand while he fished for his phone with the other out of his pocket.  “Can you tell me so I could get Ignis to get it?”  He looked up from his one-handed texting to see Prompto reflexively frown.  A sly grin appeared as he teased, “what, don’t tell me it’s those kinds of…things.  That’d be pretty gutsy of you.”

The frown dissipated as a blush crept up from Prompto’s neck to his cheeks.  “N-no!  No!  Jeez Noct, get your mind out of the gutter!”  He slapped his hands on his face again and sighed.  “I need the rest of my stomach medicine cause the bottle I have on me is running low.”

Noctis fiddled with his phone case and almost dropped it in the process.  Hearing no response, he quickly shot a glance at Prompto who was falling asleep.  “Oh, okay.  Where do you keep it?”

Prompto thought of the empty house and the one place that changed as the days passed as notes or bottles were left there.  “Mmm, there should be a new one on the kitchen counter I think.  My parents usually leave the new bottle there for me.”

“Got it.  Anything else?” he asked, finishing his text to Ignis.

A red flush tinged his ears as he mumbled into the pillow.  “Urghh…I guess if he’s there…some…”

“Some?” Noctis expectantly asked.

“Under…garments…wear, pants, shorts, boxers you know what I mean!” he exclaimed, throwing his face into the pillow as he rolled onto his stomach.

There was a soft chuckle, “what era are you from again?”

Prompto groaned and wished he could just knock out to avoid talking.  However he was far too awake now for that.  “Shut up!  My brain is having a bad day!  There’s way too many words for just underwear!”

“That’s not even including women’s underwear,” Noctis added.

The blonde crossed his hands around his chest as he unconsciously felt around it for imaginary straps.  “They have those extra things too, uh, bras right?” he gestured to Noctis for confirmation.

“Yeah, those,” he agreed.

They fell silent and Prompto’s face scrunched up in confusion. 

Naturally the first words out of Prompto’s mouth were, “how do you take those things off?”

Noctis balked, “I don’t know, do I look like Ignis the walking Wikipe*ia to you?”

“Then Go*gle it!  We’re gonna have to learn this at some point right?  Luna wears them too you know,” he shot back, a smirk forming as he felt some triumph at turning the tables and saw the telltale blush appear on his friend’s cheeks.

“Wha-why!?  I don’t want that in my browser history and I can’t even- I don’t want to even think about Luna in...it just feels wrong and Ignis checks way too often,” Noctis blustered as he felt his face grow hotter.    

Prompto laughed as he saw an imaginary Ignis thumbing through Noctis’ phone, shaking his head in disapproval while Noctis panicked and wildly flailed to save his reputation to no avail.  “You ever heard of going incognito?  Or just clear your history after!”

“It just feels bad- like it’ll show up on the news or something if they track my internet history…” he trailed off.  It wasn’t easy living under a microscope.

“There is a thing called internet privacy too though,” Prompto nodded sympathetically before he cracked into smirk as he thought of something.  “Hah.  That would be a funny headline ‘Crown Prince caught looking up women’s underwear!’  It’s not like you’re going to get caught for that cause look at all the other stuff you _have_ done that no one’s noticed.”

“What do you mean by that?!” the prince exclaimed in a feigned huff while Prompto gave him a cheshire cat grin.  Noctis raised his eyebrows and looked him straight on in the eyes in an attempt at seriousness but couldn’t stop a smile from forming in response to Prompto’s.  “You are incorrigible.”

“Thank you.  What does that mean again?” he asked, coyly batting his eyelashes.

Noctis’ face deadpanned.  “It means skirt-chaser.”

“Whaaat!  My brain is fried but I know it doesn’t mean that!” he retorted, pouting and grumbling all the while.

“Get some sleep then,” Noctis replied undeterred as he gently nudged Prompto’s head toward the pillow and inadvertently ran his hand through his friend’s smooth blonde hair.

“Mhmm.  Yes, Mother,” he incoherently mumbled while he yawned.

Noctis ruffled his hair up into a bird’s nest as he smiled.  “Don’t give me that sass.”

Leaning back into his chair he finished texting Ignis the things to pick up.  Not long after he realized he had forgotten to silence his phone completely as it vibrated with a reply.   

Specs:  You do realize that there’s a washing machine and dryer at your flat, right?

                                                                                                                                                : oh. right.

 

 

Prompto didn’t know when he dozed off but he felt a warm hand on his head, the touch soothing as he unconsciously leaned into it.  He could barely make out Noctis’ whisper that was said more to himself than to anyone else. 

“Thanks for always saving me.”

The hand jolted a little in surprise and halted its escape as Prompto murmured, half-awake and half-dreaming, “no problem…I’ll…always be here…for…you.”

There was a pause as Noctis hesitated, almost afraid to breathe as his eyes searched the sleeping blonde for a response.  “…Promise?”

Prompto shifted a bit, seemingly searching for something and stopped when his head made contact with Noctis’ hand, sighing contently as he smiled, his eyes still closed.  “…Yeah…you already did…the same for me…”

Noctis gave a soft sigh but couldn’t stop the corners of his lips from turning up into a thoughtful smile.  “So he says as he rolls over…”

 

A quiet beep and the sound of a door opening told Noctis that Ignis had arrived as he roused himself from his spot on the couch.  The muffled grunt that followed afterwards was Gladiolus tripping over the step separating the entryway from the rest of the house.

“I can’t believe you can dodge bullets while managing to have a fifty percent change of stubbing your foot on that little thing,” Ignis sighed, the shaking of his head evident in the crinkling sound of the bags he carried.

Gladio’s exasperation was easily audible as he loudly retorted, “my house doesn’t have a step like this!”

Ignis snorted once before he politely stopped himself, but was unable to keep the amusement leaking into his voice.  “So do you trip up your stairs too?”

“No!  Just this stupid thing.” He grumbled rubbing his sore toe as Noctis walked over to fetch the bags off of Ignis.

“Do try to keep it down then please.  Ah- thank you Noctis,” Ignis said as he gratefully the prince freed his hands and carried Prompto’s things over to his cabinet.  

“I brought the items he requested.  How is he doing?” he asked, adjusting his glasses and neatly aligning his shoes before stepping into the slippers he always wore.

“Sleeping,” Noctis replied, his arms crossed as he leaned his body and head against the corner of the wall and yawned. 

Ignis gave a curt nod and rolled up his sleeves to unpack the rest of the things that Gladio balanced on the sideboard.  “We’ll discuss things in the morning then.”

 

It was a fine morning, filled with bright sunlight and crisp morning air. The birds were chirping, the flowers were blooming, and Ignis was sitting across the table from him with crossed legs leisurely nursing his coffee.  Prompto squirmed uncomfortably across from him as he forced himself to sit up straighter, nervously clearing his throat.

Prompto took a deep breath.  “Uh, so…” he began, his eyes darting to places other than where Ignis was seated.  His gaze rested for a moment on Noctis, who was on the verge of passing out on the table, then flitted to Gladio who was reclined back in his seat.

Ignis paused as he took a sip of his coffee before he started.  “To sum things up, we have no idea what happened with the magic you used.  It wasn’t Noctis’ though, that much we know.”

There was a thump as Noctis rested his elbow on the table, leaned his head on his hand, and yawned as Prompto hesitantly replied.  “Um, yes.  Noct told me.”

Wrinkles appeared in Ignis forehead as he recalled the results of his investigation where the beam fell.  “Thankfully no one at the site remembered what happened, otherwise we would need to induct you into the Crownsguard to create a cover for you as they are the only group known to use magic outside of the line of Lucis.”

Prompto bobbed his head in acknowledgement and a stray tuft of bed-hair that stuck up in the back waved along with the motion.  “O-okay.”

There was a creak as Ignis leaned back in his chair and helpless smile eased into his expression as he observed the frazzled teen who peeked back at him like a lost chocobo chick looking for its mother.  “You don’t have to be so nervous.  We know that what you did was something well deserving of our gratitude.”

Gladio laughed as he nudged Noctis, nearly knocking him over in the process as his head slipped off his hand.  “Yeah, if you hadn’t acted then I don’t know what would have become of this guy here.”

Noctis frowned and shot the smirking Gladio a glare before he leaned forward and added, “I probably would have joined my comic characters in a 2D world.”

Prompto rolled his eyes, the tension falling away as he chastised his friend.  “You’re exaggerating.”

“Judging by the size of the beam, I don’t think he is for once,” Ignis smoothly cut in as Noctis protested with a “hey.”  Ignis ignored him and continued.  “Now, back to the topic at hand, do you know how to control your magic?” 

“No…I didn’t know I could do any of,” Prompto paused to incoherently gesticulate, “whatever ‘that,’ was either.”

A soft clink chimed out as Ignis set his coffee cup down on its saucer.  “Alright, would you mind if I suggest something then?”   

Prompto blinked in surprise, “yea-yes?”

The next words came slowly as Ignis weighed the options in his mind.  “Would you be willing to undergo some training?  It’s a more pre-emptive course of action than simply waiting for it to go out of control when you don’t want it to.”  Ignis stopped to take a sip of his coffee and put it back down, staring at the reflection of the world outside the window on the dark surface as the ripples stopped.   He noticed Noctis glance over at him and give a slight nod before he continued, the hesitation gone.  “I’m not sure how much help we’ll be, seeing as how it is a new form of magic, but we can go over the basics with you.” 

There was a visible change in Prompto’s face as the unease vanished completely and awe appeared.  “Whoa, really?”

Ignis nodded and smiled brightly.  “It would be the least we can do.  Noctis agreed to teach you.”

 

Extra (concerning two derps):

Fateor: “So what do you mean by ‘hang out to dry’?”

Lu: “What it sounds like!  You take a really sturdy pole, metal is preferable, and then you string it through their shorts, so they hang upside down in a splits.”

Fateor: “Ah…what if their shorts rip?”

Lu: “Mmmm, that’s called getting lucky.”

Fateor: “They willingly let you do that?!”

Lu: “Nah, of course of not.  You gotta catch them and then truss em' up so they can’t move.”

Fateor: “…I see where the trauma comes from.”

Lu: “That’s not all though.  You’re missing the best part where you leave them there for a couple hours until they repent.”

Fateor: “Where did you learn torture techniques again?”

Lu: “From Teacher!”

Fateor: “So she was that kind of a person huh.  Wait, how do you hang the pole up when they're on it?”

Lu: "Teacher used to help me!"

Fateor: "...I see." (she was just as petty)

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Hogwarts kids (jk).  
> So this chapter ended up being kinda uneventful I guess. There was a random(ly long) conversation too about underwear but I guess high school boys will be high school boys (if that’s how they are? I don’t know.) Prompto was just super out of it.  
> How fast is dog-mail even? I swear, the questions I ask every time I write a new chapter.
> 
> Sorry for the late posting but this thing kinda exploded on me. I had 1.7k dialogue that turned into this enormous…thing after I finished.


	7. Advance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I live! (LOL) Sorry for the delay but here it is? Also, sorry for any typos and crap.

“You know, I should have realized something was off when he smiled like that,” Prompto wheezed, his hands bracing his knees while sweat dripped off of his forehead and onto the smooth cement.

“Who…oh, Ignis?” Noctis panted back as he staggered into a wall and slid down to the floor.  The thud as he landed echoed through the large gym-like facility they spent their formerly free afternoons in.  How they managed to squirrel it away such a large place in a seemingly small, nondescript building that no one would suspect anything more of had baffled Prompto.    

Prompto’s sigh was the next thing to echo through it as he lowered his voice in an attempt at secrecy.  The attempt failed as his voice echoed mournfully through the gym.  “Yeah…that smile was way too happy.”

Noctis caught enough of his breath back for a short, harsh laugh.  “Well, if it makes you feel any better, you’re not the only one dying right now.”

A mischievous sparkle appeared in Prompto’s eyes as he cheekily grinned.  “Well how is that different from your usual lifestyle oh prince who sleeps like the dead?”

Noctis scoffed as he staggered back to his feet.  “That’s called being dead, not the process of becoming dead.  Dying is obviously much more painful if you can tell.”

They were cut off by a loud clap as Ignis walked over, stopping with a loud squeak of his shoes as he expectantly stared at the two who were trying to escape reality by slacking.

All Prompto could muster in response was a whisper, “somebody please save me.”  A laugh bubbled out of Noctis as he watched Prompto’s face morph with horror as Ignis menacingly took a few steps closer in jest, a smile on his face.  Leaning in, Noctis consolingly pat Prompto’s shoulder before he reached to grab his friend’s hand and hauled him up.      

 

Prompto’s days alternated between mental agony and physical pain as he alternated between days with theory, books, and Ignis’ tutoring him to days with exhaustion, confusion, and strain to apply what he learned in practice.  It didn’t help that his dreams seemed to be a continuation of his waking moments.   

_The classroom was clearly aged, moss creeping along the bottoms of the windowsills and the worn brick.  In sharp contrast to the muted colors of the room was the fiery haired, black robed teacher who walked between the rows of desks and rousing dozing students with her voice._

_“It was once said that the crystal is the soul of the planet, and as the planet’s soul it’s thought to hold the history of the world stored within it.  That includes you, me, and every living thing to ever walk its surface.”  She paused and turned to face him before she continued, “so what is magic then?”_

“Prompto?”

Prompto blinked his eyes open in confusion as he lifted his head from where he had been resting it propped up on his hand.  “Huh?”  The brick classroom had disappeared and in its place the heavyset wooden bookshelves of the Citadel’s library lined the room.      

Ignis put the book he had been lecturing from down and leaned in a bit to get a better look at Prompto.  “Are you alright?”

He bobbed his head, “yeah, I’m fine.  But what were you asking?”

Prompto could only groan as two voices meshed in unison to reply to him.  “So what _is magic?”_

One lesson was manageable.  Two, sometimes simultaneous and occasionally conflicting lessons?  He would rather lay down and never move again.  Thankfully the main principle that both Ignis and the flame-haired teacher agreed on was that, “magic originates from the crystal.”

_“All life and magic originates from the crystal where both are one and the same.  Magic is merely the expression of life’s energy given form through thought.”_

“Magic is the crystal’s energy given form, in which case, only the line of Lucis or those connected through that family can wield it.”

_“All beings can wield magic to some degree but those blessed by the crystal and bestowed Marks can fully materialize magic and utilize it freely.  As some of you may already know, Marks are a physical manifestation of the crystal’s blessing that can take on a variety of forms that generally fall into easily recognizable categories.”  The teacher paused as she set down her notes and waved her hand to materialize a flame-patterned crimson lance in a burst of fire.  She twirled it easily before halting its momentum with a bang on the floor.  The surrounding students’ eyes widened while she laughed and continued explaining.  “My Mark, as you can see, is a weapon type.  While it’s great for its more practical use of stabbing things, it’s not as flexible for using fire magic as something separate from itself as say, a jewel or accessory type Mark is.  However, Marks have only been documented as having evolved within the last few centuries so who’s to say what they’ll be capable of later down the line.”_

“As I’m sure you’re aware, Noctis can use a variety of different magic from summoning weapons to warping to the location of a thrown weapon he keeps in his arsenal.”

At this Prompto raised his hand and asked, “but what about other magic?  You know, like that flashy elemental stuff.”  Ignis pushed his glasses up with one hand and nodded.  “Now that’s a bit different.  Noctis can draw upon the elemental nodes that are scattered around those ‘safe havens,’ or they’re more like campsites I suppose, but he himself can’t hold onto that energy without a container.  It’s not exactly ‘his,’ per se which is why anyone else who has the flask can use what’s in it.  He can draw from the crystal’s energy but that drawn amount has a strict limit to what he can do with it.  There has been some discovered documentation that perhaps things in the ancient times things were different.”      

_“Oh, what do Marks do?  Think of Marks as being like an antenna that amplifies the amount of energy that can be pulled from the ambient energy around us or from the crystal and modulate our output of its energy.  We can expend a lot of the energy, or mana, and then regenerate it quite easily due to our Marks.  The large scale magic we have of today wasn’t possible in prior generations.  Back then people had to pool their energy for things that wouldn’t take much effort with someone with a Mark.  On top of that, the consequences for overusing what their body could handle or continually draining their mana was quite steep as well.  Hopefully none of you will come across those consequences.”  The teacher sighed as she paused and let her eyes roam the classroom.   As her gaze came close to where Prompto sat, her attention jumped to the student beside him who was dozing off and her expression appeared troubled as she murmured, “too much of a good thing may no longer be such a blessing.”_

“Magic has a price.  The more immediate price is mana.  It’s a bit like stamina, if you will, where you tire after using so much of it and how much one has varies from person to person.  You’ve seen Noctis staggering around after he warps or phase dodges too often right?”  Prompto nodded his head in acknowledgement as he recalled the time Noctis bumped into him…and then simply draped over him like a coat.  He had internally applauded his self-control for keeping his mind from wandering to other places despite being unable to manage his blushing which he had blustered to Ignis was exhaustion.  “Well that’s when he’s hit the limit of what he can handle.  However, as we’ve seen in the line of Lucis, the longer term effect of overusing it is…” Ignis trailed off and Prompto’s face fell as they thought of the current king.  Ignis’ gaze sharpened and focused in on Prompto, “whether your magic has the same price or not, I can’t say.  I will only warn you to use it when absolutely necessary and do not go beyond your limit when you’re tired.” 

Prompto wet his lips and cleared his throat before he responded.  “Got it.”

 

Theory was one thing.  Actually using it seemed to be another beast as Ignis sighed at his latest attempt and Noctis snickered while he leaned against the wall of the training hall.

“Can you tell me what that’s supposed to do?” Ignis sighed again as he pointed at the strange conglomeration of ice that had been meant to lift up a wooden crate.  Not only did it look weird, it had spectacularly failed for the task he was given as the crate had slipped off the misshapen ice and fallen to the floor.

All Prompto could do was laugh nervously as he scratched the back of his head.  “I…have no idea what I was going for.”  It had started out with using the water to form a hand and then turned into modern art along the way as the idea he had changed too quickly for the first one to come out clearly as he froze the water. 

“Focus Prompto, magic is all about control,” Ignis chastised but stopped as he saw Prompto start to wilt under his words.  He gave an apologetic smile as he let Prompto off the hook.  “Well, everything takes time.  Noctis definitely had his own problems along the way,” Ignis waved dismissively to Noctis with one hand as he pushed his glasses up with the other.

“Hey, don’t drag me into this,” the prince protested before his expression turned thoughtful and he rubbed his chin.  “But I gotta say that Prompto’s doing pretty well for a beginner.  It did take me a while to get the hang of it.”

There was a glint in Ignis’ eyes as he smiled warmly that set Prompto’s hair on end and made Noctis warily give a double-take.  “It did, didn’t it?  I happen to recall the time that you-”      

“Aaaaand we’re gonna go relax now,” Noctis interrupted, grabbing Prompto by the collar of his shirt as he unceremoniously began hauling him away.

“Running away I see,” Ignis chuckled as Noctis noticeably sped up his pace at the comment while Prompto yelped as he tried to right himself from the awkward stance.

“Isn’t it called a ‘tactical retreat’ in your book?” the prince shot back without even a glance behind.

Ignis knowingly smirked and shook his head while he crossed his arms, tapping his elbow sharply with his fingers.  “Not the way you’re going about it.”  Noctis could only grunt in response.  “Anyways, we’ll be meeting here again tomorrow.  It’ll be magic practice and then Gladiolus will be here for a weapons trial,” Ignis called after them as the door to the hall closed with a slam.

Once out of Ignis’ sight Noctis released his hold of Prompto’s collar and squatted down sighing as he ran his hands through his hair.  Prompto kneeled down next to Noctis and poked his arm.  “Hey, do you think he realizes that tomorrow’s Saturday right?  And what was that about a weapons trial?”

“In case you end up having to join the Crownsguard after all,” Noctis murmured. 

“Oh, planning ahead isn’t bad,” Prompto remarked as he nodded appreciatively while the corners of Noctis’ mouth turned grim much to Prompto’s chagrin.  “Come on, don’t frown so much or you’ll get wrinkles in-between your eyebrows like Ignis.  It’s not the end of the world if I end up joining.  I’ll just be hanging around you guys more then-”

“But is joining the Crownsguard really what you want to do when you graduate…?” Noctis interrupted as he turned to Prompto, the intensity of his gaze startling him as searched his face. 

Prompto felt his ears warming as they began to redden under the scrutiny but he stopped to consider what Noctis was asking.  He began slowly, “if…it happens, then it happens!”  He gave a resolute nod and a smile as he mentally confirmed that it couldn’t be a bad thing if he joined.  Well, maybe it was bad for his heart but he ignored that and carried on.  “Anyways, it’s not like anything’s set in stone Noct.”

An exasperated sigh leaked out of Noctis as his face crumpled into a weary, yet relieved expression as he hauled himself upright.  “You should really consider your future more carefully than that.”

“Are you really the one who should be telling me that?” Prompto gave a wry laugh that cut off suddenly as he stumbled over his own feet on his way to the door.  Noctis lunged and quickly jerked Prompto’s arm back towards himself, catching Prompto with his chest.  Prompto opened his mouth but couldn’t speak as he felt the familiar flush of his cheeks begin to reach for the tips of his ears while he listened to Noctis laugh from behind him.

The smile on Noctis’ face was probably nothing short of smug to the point where Prompto wished he could wipe it off of his face for him if his tone was any indication of how he felt.  “Weeell if I recall correctly,” Noctis drawled, patting Prompto’s arm with the hand that caught him and was still currently holding him, “I believe it’s you who was worried about just passing things.”

“That’s cause you’re too friggin’ smart!” he blurted as he twisted to shoot Noctis an exasperated glance.  There was a moment where he considered struggling half unsure if he should try to pull away or let Noctis let go of him first. 

“Not really,” the prince answered nonchalantly as he continued to ignore Prompto’s growing restlessness.

“Excuse me?  When I see zeros or ones, it’s never a good thing,” he grumbled indignantly as he readjusted his clothing the best he could around Noctis’ hold.  “Try to see what’s it like for us normal people who have to struggle all the time through that stuff.”

Noctis shook his head and began, “well if you studied more-”

“Aaaand already missing the point there bub.  For _some_ of us, even if we study more the scores never really get better…it’s a whaddya call it in math?”  The word eluded him but he knew it was somewhere, unlike geometry.  Geometry was gone.    

“Non-linear relationship?”  Noctis chimed back.

“Yes, that you math nerd.  Now can I…?” he hurriedly tapped Noctis’ arm.

Instead of getting the freedom he sought, he felt Noctis lean in close enough he could feel his breath practically scorching his ear.  “What?  Oh, you wanna stand on your own now?”

“Yeeees…?” His voice pitched upwards as he felt Noctis’ face come even more uncomfortably close than it was before.

“I thought you were comfy like this though.  I was waiting to see how long it took you to become uncomfortable,” the prince cheekily grinned as he released Prompto who practically flew out of his arms. 

Prompto could feel his face light up a bright red as he whirled around, his words stumbling out in a stuttering rush, “you-!  One of these days you’ll just trip a-and fall over!”

“I hope gravity doesn’t break for me.  That’d be problematic.”  Noctis chuckled as he imagined himself spiraling off into space instead of hitting the floor.

Prompto threw his hands up into the air.  “Done!  You are done for today man.  Hit the quota.” 

A smile crept across Noctis’ face as he watched Prompto indignantly stomp off down the road.  “My place is still closer though,” he called.  The stomping stopped as Prompto whipped his head back to glare at his friend who smirked back in response and shrugged.

 

After what seemed to be an eternity, they finally finished sluggishly trudging their way to Noctis’ flat.

“You’re staying right?” Noctis asked, the silence forming the his answer as he examined the amalgamation on the couch created from a pillow, blanket, and a tuft of blonde hair shortly after the door opened and shoes went flying off. 

Prompto’s eyelids were practically gluing themselves shut as he grunted.  “Mmmh.”

“So much for making it to a bed,” he murmured before yawning himself.  “Night Prompto.”

                                                                                                                                                                     

Chaos during the day to greetings from now familiar faces by his dreams at night; it had taken some getting used to but when he opened his eyes he was not surprised.

_“Haaah?”_

_Two voices harmonized with each other as Lu and Fateor stared at him, faces filled with confusion._

_“What do you mean you don’t know how to use magic?”_

_“I’m supposed to know how?” Prompto asked.  Although it was a bit disconcerting to hear his voice sound so differently from what he was accustomed to, he had gradually gotten used to it._

_“It’s super easy cause you just go for it.  Then it goes like ‘BWAAAH’ and you got magic,” she exclaimed, throwing her arms open for emphasis._

_“That has to be the most unhelpful description I’ve ever heard,” Fateor sighed as he crossed his arms and shook his head.  “You can feel your energy right?  Like when you use the magic tools that are all over the place?”_

_Prompto nodded as he thought about the kettle like tool he had used in the morning to heat the water.  All it took was a button press and he felt something move from his finger to the tool._

_“You just have to think about what you want and move the energy around to the places, be it inside or outside your body, where you feel a pull for it to be.  Let me demonstrate.” Fateor said as he flicked his hand down and…a toothbrush appeared._

_“Yep, you should be the one to teach him cause you’re soooo in control of your magic huh?” she snickered as Fateor turned bright red and quickly threw the toothbrush which disappeared with a glimmer.  “Anyways, everyone’s got a different magic.  Fateor over there is more like a walking warehouse than the armory he’s supposed to be.  I don’t think he can even handle storing that many things yet.  As for miiine,” she laughed pointing over towards the doorway where the boys who had harassed him before were gathered saw her and paled.  She waved her hand as a simple black and gold ring appeared on her finger and a glowing wall suddenly appeared in the doorway as they tried to escape through it, their agonized cries signaling that they had run straight into it.  “I can make barriers!” she continued, completely ignoring the groaning heap of limbs and bodies she had created as they walked past.  Prompto felt his eyebrows rise at her to which she just shrugged.  “What?  They were the ones who decided to run into it.  Why should I show remorse to a bunch of bullies.”_

_Fateor laughed and mumbled, “thank the Astrals she didn’t get an offensive magic,” as Prompto attempted to suppress the growing smile that appeared in response to the comment.  “It would be the second coming of Titan.”_

_A sharp squeak echoed in the hallway as she stopped sharply and turned on her heels to face him again, her hair whirling as she put her hands on her hips.  “Anyways, your magic is something that’s a part of you.  Stop focusing on the little things and just let it do what it wants to.  What’s holding you back?”_

_Prompto shook his head.  Holding him back?  It didn’t seem like there was anything that was.  Studying the lines of the aged brick beneath his feet, he took a deep breath and-_

_“Tenebrae, look at me.”  In a panic he tried to turn his head away but fingers painfully gripped his cheeks and brought his attention back to the black haired woman before him.  A painful sense of familiarity and confusion gripped him as he recognized her as the sister who waited for him by the church and the woman in the cottage, his home when he dreamed.  Her cold hands involuntarily made him stiffen as he could see his steadily growing dread and fear mirroring hers as she searched his face.  “You must promise me to never use your magic like that in front of others, okay?  Please, you must promise me this.”_

_“Prompto.”_

_A voice came from behind him as the feeling of the woman’s hands on his face faded and the scene in front of him rippled with the sound of a droplet hitting a pool.  He turned to look as the smooth yet wavy, black hair was replaced with a soft bird’s nest of the same color as a boy replaced the woman.  The boy’s eyes were closed and his features were the same youthful yet vague features Prompto was used to seeing in his dreams.  Quickly searching the area around him, he found himself suspended above the surface of an endlessly stretching lake beneath a starry sky.  While his surroundings were initially calm, waves began to kick up in the water below as he felt himself begin to struggle helplessly in midair.  From his waking life to his dreams, everything seemed to be out of control as the area around him distorted and blurred before his eyes while the waves below became violent._

_As the chaos grew into a rainstorm, a clear voice cut through and everything stopped leaving glistening water droplets frozen in midair around them.  “Prompto.  It’s okay, let go.”_

_“Huh!? H-how!?” he exclaimed, his face distorting as he found that he couldn’t move any part of his body let alone even unclench his fist from digging into the skin of his palms._

_Fluffy black hair resembling feathers fell as the boy tipped his head in a questioning manner.  “You-”_

 

“Waaha!”

Scrambling furiously he shot up off the couch, threw the blanket aside, tripped over the coffee table, and fell.  As he nursed his knee on the floor, he heard the light switch flick on as his friend came into view, scrubbing at his eyes as he leaned on the wall.

“Wha..?  You okay?” Noctis mumbled as he trudged over to help him up.

“Y-yeah.  Just another weird dream, that’s all,” he replied, wincing as his knee rebelled while he stood up only to fall back onto the couch.  His head hit the soft couch back as he sighed and stared at the ceiling while Noctis wordlessly trudged off somewhere, opening and closing something with a dull thud.  A sudden chill near his face startled him as Noctis held an ice pack near his cheek.  “Ah, thanks.”

The sofa dipped suddenly as Noctis threw himself down beside him.  “So...you wanna talk about it?”

Prompto shook his head and held the ice to his knee.  “Nah, it’s okay.  We should get some sleep.”  Noctis turned his head over to look at him.  The stare would have been piercing if his eyes weren’t closing.  “It’s fiiiine.  Sleep now, okay?” Prompto used his free hand to throw the blanket over him as Noctis watched through slitted eyes as Prompto got up to return the ice to the freezer.  As Prompto returned from the kitchen, Noctis had already slumped over and curled up into the corner of the couch with the blanket loosely draped over him.  Sleep brought a touch of youthful innocence to his face that he tried to stoically cover up while awake.  The blanket slid as he rolled over and Prompto felt his lips curve gently as he pulled the blanket back up.  While Noctis seemed for a majority of the time uncaring of his status, he was always working away by himself to achieve results.  Group studying with Noctis was usually him actually studying while Prompto did his utmost best to distract Noctis between topics.  When all was said and done and Prompto packed up to leave, Noctis usually saw him off and then went back to his textbooks.  Prompto felt a sigh escape him as his brows furrowed.  Noctis was always steadily moving towards his future as king even if the prince himself didn’t consciously acknowledge it.  As for his future?  It was all a blur as he aimlessly wandered as if lost in a fog.                                  

It seemed all he was doing a lot of sighing recently as he ran his hand through his hair and quietly murmured to himself as he lowered himself onto the unoccupied portion of the couch.  “Let go?  What could he mean by that?  Why…am I even seeing these things...?”  The room was still as the nightlife of the city began to slow, and it wasn’t until the early morning hours crept by when Prompto’s mind finally stilled enough for him to drift off to a peacefully empty sleep.

 

The next morning came too soon as Prompto rolled himself off his half of the couch and stretched his cramped legs.  Thankfully he had been mindful enough while asleep that he was sharing his sleeping space with someone else, or the morning would have had more of an awkward start involving undoing a tangle of limbs.  A bonus of that would have been that he would have definitely been awake then, not that he was disappointed or anything.  As far as he was concerned, progress was being made in the right direction.  Although the morning training session had started out eerily familiar to the prior morning, with both he and Ignis ending up frustrated, there was a point where he crossed a threshold.  As much as he appreciated all of the help he had been getting, he asked Ignis to step out for a bit as some part of him snapped and he just stopped trying.  And it worked, much to his surprise.   

Noctis lumbered belatedly lumbered into the gym and was surprised to see a shimmering whirpool of water swirling through the gym with Prompto at its eye.  With how determined Ignis could be, he had half expected to see Prompto at Ignis’ throat instead of what was in front of him.  “Wow, that’s…impressive.  How come it’s so different today from yesterday?”

Prompto didn’t turn to look as Noctis walked through the edge of the ring towards him; he didn’t need to turn to know where he was.  The water surrounding him was like an extension of his consciousness, causing him to subtly shudder as the faintly electric wave of magic rippling off of Noctis grew stronger as he came closer.  He felt his mouth dry at the almost magnetic pull he felt rolling off of his friend and caught himself before he leaned in too close.  “I was going about it the wrong way, I think.”

“So it’s an area of effect magic, like in games,” Noctis nodded, oblivious to Prompto’s internal struggle with himself.

As Noctis inquisitively stared Prompto down to his face, he forced himself to focus on their conversation and throw himself into it instead of whatever else he was feeling.  “Yeah, that’s one way to put it.  I was trying too hard to control it so I just let it go and this-” he motioned to the whirpool, “is what happened.”

There was an almost childlike glow of excitement in Noctis’ face as he asked him, “so you can do the box trick now huh?”

“Oh yeah, definitely.  That’s eeeeasy~” Prompto laughed, eager to show what he could do.  Raising one arm up, a gigantic mirrored hand formed out of the whirpool’s edge and mimicked his actions as he used it to juggle the box around.  Until he managed to miss and it fell - only to stop in midair before hitting the ground as they both yelled out.

They looked at each other in confusion.  “Wha?!”    

“This is absolutely….insane.” Noctis muttered as he walked over to inspect the suspended box.  “Hey, can you drop it now?” he called over to Prompto.

“I think?” he shrugged as the box fell back down to the floor the moment he thought of doing it.  “Oh, I guess so, then.”     

“Igniiiis, this isn’t fair,” Noctis whined as he called out to Ignis and Gladio as they came through the heavy metal doors laden with assorted props and weapons for the rest of the day’s activities.   

“Life isn’t fair Noct.” Ignis replied without looking up as he placed the obstructing crate of assorted weapons down.  He sighed as he rolled his shoulders and straightened back up.  “Why, what’s not fai-” he cut off as his eyes widened as he saw the rest of the gym while Gladio nearly dropped his box to the floor.

“Damn, I’d say that’s not fair,” Gladio laughed as he walked over to give Prompto a slap on the back that made him stagger forward.  “Let’s see what he can do with this before we start with the weapons.”

 

An hour passed and the conclusion they came to was, “does he really even need a weapon?”

“This kind of magic seems almost illogical,” Ignis sighed.  “I would say he should pick a weapon to specialize in that would work well with it.”

Gladio leaned against the wall, his arms crossed as he nodded in agreement.  “A close combat weapon would be a waste if you have magic like that.”

“Why?” Prompto asked, his brows furrowed and his head tipped. 

They stared wordlessly at him as they simultaneously thought, “ _Because you can smash anything within arm’s reach of you without it.”_   What they had found was that any shape Prompto visualized could be formed with the water from the whirlpool’s edge.  Given that as long as there was enough water, which seemed to appear in corresponding amounts to his mana, whatever he desired could be formed into watery replicas.  The limitations were simple.  So far he could only use it for an hour at most and once the water was used it didn’t return to the whirpool when he subsequently summoned it.  While the water itself was finite, the circumference of the whirpool itself could be stretched or compressed as he wanted.  It could be said his overall control was still unrefined, but they assured him it would be a matter of practice.  As for his ability to stop things in midair, which he could sporadically pull off at best and only within the boundaries of the whirpool, they were unsure if it would improve.

“You might be able to do it more consistently with practice,” Noctis suggested as Prompto watched, crestfallen as the box fell to the floor again.  “It’s always touch and go in the beginning.”

“Noct would be one to know,” Gladio snickered while Noctis sulked and made a motion for the man to zip his mouth.  “A ranged weapon would probably work well for you, but what do you think?” Gladio asked, motioning to the array of weapons they had set up after unpacking the crates.  Prompto stepped forward, running his hands along the cold metal of the guns as he paused before picking one up.  It was a simple silver pistol, neither too large nor too small for his hand as he pointed it towards the targets set up in the opposite wall.  As he fixed his finger to pull the trigger, he felt himself freeze as a man’s voice slithered out of the depths of his mind, smooth and hypnotic, yet mildly patronizing. 

_“I’ve made a new challenge, let’s see what you can do.”_

_The murky surroundings took form as the hum of cars roaming the streets and the indistinct chatter of people sprang to life around him.  A smoggy sky loomed overhead and blocked out the sky as the battered skyscrapers seemed to soak up the rest of the faint sunlight that managed to make it through.  He looked down and saw that he was dressed casually, black shoes, dark jeans and a hood pulled up over his head.  As strange as everything was, he couldn’t help but feel his mouth curl up in a sardonic smile as his outfit was pretty much screaming “I’m going to jump someone!” without him even having to do anything.  It seemed the people crowding around him felt as such as they parted around him like he was a jutting stone in a river._

_He jumped a bit as the voice from before snorted derisively at his contempt for his outfit.  “You’re no fun.  Fine, have it your way.”_

_Instead of new clothes appearing, the ones he wore seemed to age instantly as the ends of the hoodie sleeves grew frayed and his pants gained a noticeable amount of wear on the knees._

_“Now you fit in,” the man chuckled, the smugness oozing through his voice as Prompto frowned.  Before he could even open his mouth in protest, the voice interrupted again.  “Begin.”_

_As if a switch had flipped, the noise around him faded and he felt his focus narrow in as he systematically scanned the crowd while he walked.  Faces blurred into nothing as he fluidly forced his way through, searching and listening.  He vaguely realized he was becoming frustrated as his movements became jerkier yet quicker, but it only came to him as a belated afterthought as he watched himself move through the sea of bodies.  All the while, he felt himself rub the gun handle as he walked in some sort of self-soothing mantra._

_“It’s an easy task; all you have to do is eliminate the target.  That’s all.”_

_The cold steel felt foreign in his hand as he silently grabbed it out of its holster.  It was unfamiliar yet all too familiar as his fingers felt their way into the grooves as he rubbed the worn steel as his target came into sight.  He rapidly fired while the crowd burst into screams, scrambling away as he forced his way through, chasing after the rapidly fleeing figures into the alleyway and up the rusted stairwell.  “Three targets,” he mentally noted as their footsteps banged on the creaking stairs, echoing through the narrow area and the clash of breaking glass mixed with gunfire as he aimed only to miss them as the fugitives dove through a window.  He swiftly followed them; rolling through the window and quickly taking aim at the burly man waiting to ambush him from beside the window holding a shield.  The shots rang out as they ricocheted through the room off of the shield, hitting the faded peeling wallpaper and landing dangerously close to the other two men as one half-pulled, half-carried the other towards the open hall.  “An injury,” his mind reported while the man with the shield desperately rushed forward to slam him into the wall or back out of the window.  Time seemed to slow as his body sidestepped the shield charge and his leg shot out, pinpointing the back of the man’s knees.  The man gave a grunt as his legs gave out and Prompto took aim, instinctively going for the head but the shot missed its mark as his arm instead jerked towards the man’s knee.  With one down, he sprinted towards the other two, following the smeared trail of red on the scuffed wood floors and quickly dodged to the side as a sharp whistle of air alerted him to a greatsword the downed man threw, smashing into the wall beside him.  He didn’t look back at the man’s whispered swear and instead continued forward.  Slamming the only closed door open boot-first, he reached into his hoodie sweater and fished out a knife to throw, pinning the spectacled man’s hand to the wall as he pushed the other man out of the way.  While one stumbled to the floor, Prompto swung his leg towards the spectacled man’s neck as he turned to look at him, eyes wide with confusion, and knocked him out.  He walked over, the thud of his boots dull in the dilapidated room.  Grabbing the injured man’s arms, he pulled them back as the other struggled weakly and pinned him to the floor as he straddled the man’s back.  As Prompto put the gun to his head, the man suddenly lay there as if he were already dead, all hints of a fight extinguished by the cold steel in his hand.  While it could be a fairly normal reaction, Prompto had the faint feeling that something was wrong.  It wasn’t just the fact that his hand was shaking uncontrollably as he readied himself to fire.  It was too easy?  No, not just that.  What was it again- maybe it was the fact that a name rested on the tip of his tongue that refused to roll off of it.  All of a sudden his mind was spinning as everything came too close and he was smothered under the barrage that was as jarring as it was comforting.  That face, that voice, that figure, that sweet citrus scent melded with the fleeting touch of fingers on his back, the soft, rhythmic sounds of sleep on his shoulder, the laughter and the slight quirk of his lips as they called his name-_

_The acrid tang of rust and a spreading wave of crimson became something irreconcilable with the person before him and his finger refused to move.  His mouth opened, but there were no words he could say for what he had done.  The sudden wet warmth on the hand that restrained the man beneath him startled him.  He reached up to his face to find that it had come from his eyes right as the voice returned again._

_“Ah…I see you’ve failed yet again.  That kind of hesitation will only lead to failure in the future.”_

_Pain.  His vision blurred rapidly and everything slanted sideways as he watched the gun that had slipped out of his nerveless grasp spiral out of his reach._

_“Hmm…if you were to break…” the voice pondered, unseeing to the agony he felt as his muscles spasm uncontrollably against metal restraints as he vaguely caught the glimpse of a worn hat moving from the shadows towards him._

_“Well, I wonder what would happen.  Who knows what would happen to a failed project.”_

 

He dropped the gun as if it burned him and watched it clatter onto the floor, the gleaming silver barrel coming back to face him as he felt the air slam back into his lungs with a sudden gasp.  What felt like a lifetime had happened in an instant.     

“I-I can’t do this yet…” Prompto stuttered with a nervous laugh while the others walked closer only for him to take a hesitant step back.  As he stared down at the gun, the rest of the boy’s words from his dream suddenly came back to him. 

_“You have already chosen your path.  Follow it.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who liked the darker prologue, I can say that we’re heading from happy fluffy land to uh, angst I guess. I mean, the new people I’m throwing in at least will definitely have a rough time (sadly) because of the time period they lived in.  
> As a side note, Ardyn’s story is going to be NOT cannon. They really had something going for him until it hit that last episode…then all of a sudden they had a very flat character on their hands and that’s no fun. I’m throwing cannon Ardyn out of a window (wave goodbye!).


End file.
